Philip Zuckerman – diploma concert

Violinist Philip Zuckerman has garnered acclaim from audiences and critics alike for his enchanting tone and technical brilliance. He has performed concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York, Southbank Centre in London, Casino Baden-Baden, and the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr. He has also appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Nova, and the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto.

Chamber music has a special place in Philip’s life and he has performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and Usedom Music Festival; he has also given recitals at Palladium in Malmö, the Perlman Music Program Stires-Stark Recital Series and more. He has performed with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in several contexts, and with members of the Cleveland, Cavani, and Vertavo quartets. Several of his performances have been broadcast on television and radio, including Medici.tv, Maine Public Broadcasting Network, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Masterclass Series.

Philip Zuckerman’s greatest sources of inspiration are Catherine Cho and Itzhak Perlman, with whom he studied for nine years in New York. He has also studied with Natasha Beshulya in Stockholm and Donald Weilerstein in New York. Philip obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School, and recently finished additional studies at the Royal College of Music, Edsberg.

The first half of this performance is dedicated to Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet Pulcinella in his own transcription, and Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2 with its well-known Blues movement. After the intermission we will hear Schumann’s dramatic Violin Sonata No. 1, followed by Saint-Saëns’ masterful Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso. The concert concludes with a selection of master violinist Jascha Heifetz’s arrangements of arias from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess.

Accompaning Philip is pianist Thormod Rønning Kvam, who in recent years has established himself as one of Norway's most exciting young pianists. During the past year he has made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in London and has performed several concerts and tours with, among others, Eir Inderhaug, Arve Tellefsen, Philip Zuckerman and Eivind Ringstad. He also likes to collaborate with artists and musicians in other genres and has performed with actors such as Ola B. Johannessen and Kåre Conradi. He has also participated in several Norwegian festivals, where he was recognized for his creative leadership and strong commitment to audience development.