Clare Juan and Nicholas Kennedy

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 5, no. 2

I. Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo—Allegro molto più tosto presto

II. Rondo. Allegro

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Die tote Stadt, Op. 12, Act II: Tanzlied des Pierrot

Johannes Brahms Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Cello in F major, Op. 99

I. Allegro vivace

II. Adagio affetuoso

III. Allegro passionato

IV. Allegro molto

The artists:

Clare Juan, cello

Clare Juan is an Australian cellist, currently pursuing her Master of Performance degree at the Royal College of Music, London, studying with Gemma Rosefield. She previously completed her undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music with Raphael Wallfisch. Clare is the The Sir Peter & Lady Walters Scholar, supported by the Pauline Hartley Award, and a beneficiary of the TAIT Performing Arts Association and the Marylebone Educational Trust.

In 2015 Clare made her concerto debut with the Preston Symphony Orchestra after winning their competition as well as the Audience Prize and has since given solo recitals in over three continents. As an avid chamber musician, she was recently personally selected to perform the Schubert C Major String Quintet with the Marmen Quartet, and her piano trio recently won 2nd prize and the Audience prize at the Intercollegiate Cavatina Competition at Wigmore Hall. In the contemporary music scene, she has commissioned and premiered new works as well as winning the 2023 RCM Contemporary Competition.

Clare plays on a cello made by William Forster Junior in 1804, commissioned by George IV and previously owned by His Majesty King Charles III, loaned to her by the Royal College of Music, London.

Nicholas Kennedy, piano

Sydney-born Nicholas Kennedy (b. 1996) gave his first paid, public performance at the age of eight, and is now among Australia’s most exciting young musicians. Nicholas made his concerto debut in 2014, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Kuring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra. He has subsequently appeared in Germany, the United Kingdom, and throughout Australia.

His debut album, featuring Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas, was released on the Orpheus Classical label in 2021 and is available on all major streaming platforms. Highlights of the 2023 season included a recital for the Sydney Schubert Society, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Modést Orchestra.

Nicholas’s competition successes include: Open Instrumental Winner of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (2023); Winner of the Mary Greville Piano Scholarship (2017); Winner of the Nan Price Piano Award (2017); Runner-Up in the Glass Sellers’ Beethoven Prize, London (2019); Finalist in the John Allison Piano Scholarship (2018 and 2019); and Best Prelude and Fugue in the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition (2015).

Besides his solo work, Nicholas is passionate about chamber music and collaborative piano-playing. He was a founding member of the Hutcheson Piano Trio, and enjoys performing with student singers at the Sydney Conservatorium. He is also an accomplished cellist.