TwoPianists: Nina Schumann & Luis Magalhães

The internationally acclaimed piano duo, TwoPianists, comprised of South African Nina Schumann and Portuguese Luis Magalhães, both lecturers at the Stellenbosch University Music Department, need little introduction to Endler Hall concert goers. TwoPianists was formed in 1999 when the pair met as students of maestro Vladimir Viardo at the University of North Texas so this year the duo celebrates 21 years of performing together.

For this concert TwoPianists bring you Lizst’s Sonata in B minor arranged by Saint- Saëns. Liszt’s own plans to rework the piece for two pianos were never realised and Saint-Saëns’ adaptation was a result of his admiration for and friendship with Liszt. The sonata is probably Liszt’s most important contribution towards the piano repertoire and challenges the classical ideal of the multi-movement sonata, by adapting it to a single through-composed movement, with a restatement of the two initial grim themes towards the end of the piece as accelerated or slowed versions.

Composer and pianist Alexander Johnson’s Jazz Impromptu no. 1 was the prescribed composition at the Seventh International UNISA-Transnet Piano Competition in 1994 upon Johnson’s return to South Africa from composing in Serbia – a post made possible having won two national composition prizes from the Foundation for the Creative arts in 1993 and 1994. Johnson writes for every genre, and his works have been performed all over South Africa, Europe and USA. Johnson is professor of harmony, counterpoint, form, analysis, composition and orchestration at the University of Pretoria.  He is also the founder and chairman of the Stefans Grové National Composition Competition.

The concert will be broadcast on Sunday 18 October at 4pm and will be available online until Sunday 25 October.

Programme:

F. Liszt (1811 – 1886) arr. C. Saint-Saëns

B minor Sonata S.178

Alexander Johnson (b. 1968) *SA

Jazz Impromptu 1

Artist biographies:

Nina Schumann was born into a musical family, receiving her early music tuition from Rona Rupert and Lamar Crowson. Her first appearance with an orchestra was at the age of 15 and her talent soon captured the attention of the public when she won the Fifth National Music Competition for high school pupils in 1988. She went on to win the Oude Meester Music Prize (1989), the Forte Competition (1990) and during 1991 both the Wooltru Scholarship and the Adcock-Ingram Music Prize.

She has over 140 concerto performances with orchestras in South Africa, Germany, Portugal, Scotland, Armenia and the United States to her credit, and some 40 concertos in her repertoire.

In 1993 Schumann won the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition and was awarded the Jules Kramer and Harry Crossley Bursaries for Overseas Study by the University of Cape Town. She crowned these prizes by winning the sought-after SABC Music Prize as well as the Oude Meester National Chamber Music Competition.

International accolades followed: she won prizes for the Best South African Pianist in the 1993 UNISA International Piano Competition, Finalist and Special Prize Winner at the Shreveport Concerto Competition (1996) and Third Prize in the Casablanca International Piano Competition (1997).

After completing her MMus at the University of California, Los Angeles, Schumann enrolled for a Doctorate of Music at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Van Cliburn-winner, Vladimir Viardo. She received several academic prizes: Dean’s Medal (UCT), Best Performer (UCLA), Best Performer (UNT), Best Pianist (UNT) and Best Doctoral Student (UNT).

Following her appointment as Associate Professor and Head of Piano at the University of Stellenbosch in 1999, Schumann transferred her Doctorate to UCT, where she graduated in 2005. In 2009 she was awarded the UCT Rector’s Award for Excellence in recognition of her contribution to music.

Solo career and academic life aside, Schumann has formed a critically acclaimed duo with pianist Luis Magalhães, simply titled TwoPianists. Their CD’s have received rave reviews from international publications such as Diapason, International Record Review and Allmusic.com. In 2011, American Record Guide named their second CD it’s Editor’s Choice.

 Together with Magalhães, Schumann is a founder and director of TwoPianists Records, which is distributed worldwide by Naxos, thereby ensuring immediate international market access for the artists they are committed to record. For two consecutive years, TwoPianists Records won the South African Music Award for the Best Popular Classical Album. Schumann’s first recording with mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, Shakespeare Inspired, also received the German Critics’ Choice Award.

Schumann has given master classes worldwide at prestigious international institutions and music schools such as the Juilliard School of Music. During the 2013/2014 season, she made her much-anticipated Wigmore Hall and Zürich Tonhalle debuts.

Nina Schumann is a Yamaha International Artist.

Described as possessing a “wonderfully full sound” (American Record Guide) and a “polished, refined technique” (Allmusic.com), Stellenbosch-based pianist Luis Magalhães has achieved critical acclaim as both a soloist and a chamber musician.

In addition to numerous performances in South Africa and his native Portugal, Luis has also appeared in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Poland, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, France, Italy, Brazil, China, Japan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and the United States.

In the studio, Luis has collaborated with Frank Stadler, Priya Mitchell, Daniel Rowland, Julian Arp, Gareth Lubbe, Madeline Adkins, Peter Martens, and James Austin Smith. These partnerships have resulted in glowing reviews, as well as a coveted South African Music Award (2011).

As one half of the Schumann-Magalhães duo, better known as TwoPianists, Luis has also released a further four critically acclaimed CDs, with another soon to be released. This collaboration with Nina Schumann, has been compared to the duos of Ashkenazy-Previn and Argerich-Freire (American Record Guide). Luis is a co-founder of the independent label TwoPianists Records which has been the recipient of both local and international accolades. He is a co-founder of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, which has since 2004 become the premier classical music festival on African soil. He also co-founded the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium.

Luis was awarded a DMus from the University of Cape Town in 2011, and currently holds an Associate Professorship at the University of Stellenbosch.

Luis has also given extensive masterclass tuition including lessons at New York’s fabled Juilliard School and numerous universities across Europe, Asia and the United States. As an expert pianist and educator, Luis has also served in the jury of many competitions including the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for Young Musicians (2012).

Luis is a Yamaha International Artist.