The Festival committee makes no apology for bringing back this outstanding young pianist. Gabriele. exudes charm and personability and it is obvious that she plays because she loves the piano; she is noted for her “excellent precision and musicality”. Last year’s concert left the audience in raptures and many individuals left St Mary’s pleading for her to return. So return she will. Originally from Lithuania, Gabriele. was the recipient of the prestigious Mills Williams Junior Fellowship 2022/23 at the Royal Academy of Music. She is now studying with Professor Vanessa Latarche.
Programme
1st half
Jean-Philippe Rameau – Suite in D major (Pièces de Clavecin) :
I. Les Tendres Plaintes (Rondeau)
V. La Follette (Rondeau)
VIII. Les Cyclopes (Rondeau)
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis – Preludes :
F-sharp major, VL184
G major, VL338
Claude Debussy – Estampes (“Prints”), L.100 :
I. Pagodes (“Pagodas”)
II. La soirée dans Grenade (“Evening in Granada”)
III. Jardins sous la pluie (“Gardens in the Rain”)
Johannes Brahms – Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79 :
No. 1 in B minor
No. 2 in G minor
2nd half
Frederic Chopin – Mazurkas, Op. 59 :
No. 1 A minor
No. 2 A-flat major
No. 3 in F-sharp minor
Ashkan Layegh (b. 1997) – For Solo Piano 2024
Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29:
I. Allegro molto sostenuto
II. Andante assai
III. Allegro con brio, ma non leggiero
About Gabrielė Sutkutė
Lithuanian pianist Gabrielė Sutkutė has already established herself as a musician of strong temperament and “excellent precision and musicality” (Rasa Murauskaitė from “7 days of Art”). She has given many concerts and performed in numerous festivals throughout Europe and appeared in famous halls such as the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, the Steinway Hall UK, the Musikhuset Aarhus and Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall. In addition to being a soloist, Gabrielė frequently performs with chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. This year she performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the YMSO at the Cadogan Hall, conducted by James Blair. In 2020, she performed Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Grammy-nominated Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Markus Huber, and was also invited to play with the renowned Kaunas String Quartet in Lithuania twice.
Gabrielė is a winner of twenty international piano competitions where she also received numerous special awards. She was awarded the 1st Prize at the Chappell Medal Piano Competition 2023 and won the 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize at the Birmingham International Piano Competition 2022. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Mills Williams Junior Fellowship 2022/23. For her musical achievements, Gabrielė received Lithuanian Republic Presidents’ certificates of appreciation six times. From 2016-22, Gabrielė had been studying with Professor Christopher Elton and received her Bachelor of Music Degree (First Class Honours) and Master of Arts Degree with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music. For the outstanding performance in her Postgraduate Final Recital, she was also awarded a Postgraduate Diploma (DipRAM). Gabrielė has just graduated from the Artist Diploma course at the Royal College of Music where she had been studying with Professor Vanessa Latarche and Professor Sofya Gulyak.
