Ming Xie – Jianing Kong
Piano Duo four hands and two pianos
The respective solo careers of Ming Xie and Jianing Kong are studded with acknowledgements and with an intense concert activity in China as well as in their “adoptive” countries and in many other parts of the world. The difficulties in organising rehearsals while living in cities separated by the ocean and their respective engagements do not restrain their desire to make music together! Both pianists started their studies in China, standing out for their outstanding musicianship and technique, to be later admitted to the world’s leading music schools for piano studies. Ming Xie, from the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu landed at the Juilliard School in New York to study first with Matti Raekallioo and then under Emanuel Ax and Sergei Babayan, with whom he is still continuing his studies. Jianing Kong, on the other hand, from the Province of Guangdong was able to move to London thanks to a scholarship to study at the Purcell School. He then went on to study at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 2010 with both BMus and MMus degrees and where he is currently teaching as an assistant professor. A lively programme, not devoid of lyrical and delicate moments, will highlight the amazing harmony existing between the members of this exceptional Duo.
Program:
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (Salzburg, 1756 – Vienna, 1791)
Sonata per pianoforte a quattro mani, in re maggiore, K.381
ROBERT SCHUMANN (Zwickau, 1810 – Endenich, 1856)
Bilder aus Osten, op. 66. Sei Improvvisi per pianoforte a quattro mani
PËTR IL’IČ ČAJKOVSKIJ (Votkinsk, 1840 – San Pietroburgo, 1893)
Suite dal balletto “Lo schiaccianoci”, op. 71a, per due pianoforti
SERGEJ RACHMANINOV (Velikij Novgorod, 1873 – Beverly Hills, 1943)
Suite n. 2 per due pianoforti, op. 17
