Maurice Steger will conduct the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) as they perform the Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 4 by Johann Sebastian Bach in the Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. These concerts will open with Handel’s Almira ‘Suite de dance’; the maestro will himself perform the Sammartini Concerto ‘per flautino’ and conduct the ‘Jodelet’ overture by Reinhard Kaiser.
Some time ago, Maurice Steger had the idea of entrusting the recorder part for the fourth Brandenburg Concerto to a young performer. He advertised the role on Facebook; the orchestra will also pay for the young recorder-player’s flight to Malaysia and the local soloist fees. Many people contacted Maurice, who then created a long-list of 40 young musicians and sent their applications to be reviewed by his two agents in Germany and Asia. The agents in turn agreed on a dozen finalists, who were then presented to the orchestra’s executive committee. This committee, comprising the management, the orchestra’s chairman and the musicians, then made the final selection.
We now wish to announce the three winners of this competition!
Vincent Lauzer, a French-Canadian, is one of the most brilliant recorder-players of the younger generation. He performs as a soloist and ensemble member in his band flûte alors!, and now also works as the artistic director of the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival.
You should try and hear him in concert one day! Unfortunately there was a scheduling conflict with Malaysia; we hope there will be a future opportunity to work together.
2nd place went to the USA; the young recorder-player Martin Bernstein impressed us with his elegant playing and tasteful interpretations – and one of his videos was loved by us all. Take a look at this touchingly beautiful duet » YouTube. The great artistic quality also contributes to the outstanding overall impression.
Dear Martin, we hope to meet you in person one day with a different project.
And now we come to the winner. He impressed – captivated, one might say – everyone with his utterly virtuoso recorder-playing. Congratulations on your victory and thus your musical journey to Malaysia, dear Yi-Chang Liang!
See how organic this young performer makes contemporary music such as that of Hosokawa (» YouTube) sound; how inventively he interprets Jacob van Eyck (» YouTube); and how profoundly he performs Neapolitan Baroque music (» YouTube).
We are pleased that audiences will be able to experience Yi-Chang Liang twice in Brandenburg 4, together with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maurice Steger. Come and greet the artists!