August 31, 2005

2005 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Alexander Kobrin to give a piano recital at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Alexander Kobrin, piano
• The 2005 Van Cliburn International Competition Gold Medalist
• Kobrin was also the first-prize winner of the 1999 Busoni Competition and a top prize winner of the 2000 Chopin and 2003 Hamamatsu Competitions
• Kobrin’s program includes works by Haydn, Schumann and Rachmaninoff
• Wednesday, October 5 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $40 / UCSB students: $17
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

UCSB Arts & Lectures presents a special solo recital by 25-year-old Russian Alexander Kobrin, the 2005 Van Cliburn International Competition Gold Medal winner, on Wednesday, October 5 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. This June Kobrin was awarded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal for brilliant playing that The Times (London) hailed as “darkly muscular one minute, achingly lyrical the next.” His prize includes three years of international concert engagements coordinated by IMG Artists (U.K.) Limited, and a compact disc recording release of his award-winning Cliburn Competition performances for harmonia mundi usa.

Founded in 1962 to honor Van Cliburn’s celebrated victory in the first Moscow Tchaikovsky International Competition, the Cliburn Competition takes place in the artist’s home town of Fort Worth, Texas once every four years. A select few pianists emerge triumphant from the thrill of this important musical competition, judged by some of the premier classical artists of our time. The Van Cliburn contest includes among its laureates Radu Lupu, Jon Nakamatsu and Christopher O’Reilly.

The Cliburn Competition functions as the ultimate audition, showcasing 35 of the world’s most promising young pianists over two and a half weeks of thrilling music-making. The six finalists are provided with a unique opportunity to share hundreds of concert engagements throughout the United States and Europe. During the 17 days in Fort Worth, the young contestants played various works in three phases of competition—solo works, chamber music and concerti. This year the Baltimore Sun claimed, “Kobrin, with a prodigious technique (and) rich tone...had ‘winner’ stamped on him throughout the finals. His rock-solid Rachmaninoff heated up the hall considerably.”

For his Santa Barbara recital, Kobrin will perform Haydn’s Sonata in F major, Hob. XVI:29 and Sonata in E minor, Hob. XVI:34; Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15; and Rachmaninoff’s Etude-Tableaux, Op. 33 and Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op. 42.

First-prize winner of the 1999 Busoni Competition and a top prize winner of both the 2000 Chopin and 2003 Hamamatsu Competitions, Kobrin has toured extensively throughout Europe, South America and Asia. He has performed with the Moscow Virtuosi, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Virtuosi of Salzburg Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include collaborations with the Rio de Janeiro Symphonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Osaka and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras. Last season, Kobrin toured Italy and Japan while completing his graduate studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the direction of Lev Naumov.

In addition to the Cliburn Competition disc for harmonia mundi to be released in fall 2005, Kobrin has recorded discs devoted to Liszt and Chopin for international labels. He will also appear in In the Heart of Music, the film documentary about the 2005 Cliburn Competition that will air on PBS stations across the United States beginning October 2005. When Alexander Kobrin is not performing, he devotes time to his students at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He and his wife expect their first child in November 2005. For more information about Mr. Kobrin’s upcoming activities or the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, please visit www.cliburn.org.

Alexander Kobrin is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by KDB Radio. His residency is supported by the Arts Education Outreach Program of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation. Concert tickets are $40 for the general public and $17 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.