Katherina Hunka violin & Sophia Rahman, piano

Concert Details

Concert Description:

PROGRAMME

Tartini: Sonata in G major
Mendelssohn: Sonata in F major
Bartok: Rumanian Dances
Poulenc: Sonata
Wieniawski: Polonaise in D

Katherine Hunka completed her studies in London and the USA. She has played a wide repertoire of concertos with orchestras including the City of London Sinfonia, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, which she led for the 1990-1991 season, and the Britten Pears Orchestra as winner of their concerto competition. She gave the world première of Britten’s Double Concerto with violinist Philip Dukes at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1997.

Appointed Leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2002, Katherine regularly directs from the leader’s chair. In autumn 2004 she performed double concertos with Nigel Kennedy as part of a fifteen concert tour of Ireland and the UK and in 2005 premiered a new Double Concerto by the Irish composer Raymond Deane. Her debut recital with pianist Sophia Rahman at the Wigmore Hall received critical acclaim. The duo has recorded a CD of works by Elgar and Kreisler. Katherine plays a Bernard Fendt violin made in 1832.

Sophia Rahman, piano, studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal Academy of Music. She is a founder member of the acclaimed Plane-Dukes-Rahman Trio (clarinet, viola, piano), currently Artists-in-Residence at Queen’s University, Belfast. She has appeared with the chamber ensembles of the English Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, and with the Soloists of the Royal Opera House. As concerto soloist she has toured with the Scottish Ensemble playing works by Mozart and Shostakovich.

She has appeared at all the London recital halls and many across Europe, including the Concertgebouw, Koelner Philharmonie and Musikverein, Wien. She has toured South America, the Indian subcontinent and given a recital tour of Japan with the clarinettist Karl Leister. She has recorded several chamber music discs for ASV, Naxos and Dutton and Shostakovich’s first piano concerto with the Scottish Ensemble for Linn Records.