Iskandar Vidjaja, Violine
Simon Ghraichy, Klavier
César Franck
Sonate in A-Dur für Violine und Klavier
Allegretto moderato
Allegro
Recitativo – Fantasia. Moderato
Allegretto poco mosso
Camille Saint Saens
Dance Macabre, Op. 40
Camille Saint Saens
Introduction & Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28
Eugen Ysaye
Reve d'enfant
und andere Stücke
Iskandar Widjaja
“One of the most exciting Violinists on the international Fiddle-circuit”
(ARTE, September 2019)
Labeled both as “Worldclass-Violinist”(Stuttgarter Zeitung) and “Rockstar”(The Jakarta Post), ISKANDAR connects worlds. The son of arabic-dutch and chinese-indonesian parents grew up with high-caliber classical music and has performed as a soloist with internationally most renowned ensembles such as the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester- and Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Munich, Warsaw and Shanghai Philharmonics, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna or the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Simultaneously, he has developed a parallel showbiz career in east Asia, with regular TV appearances, commercial endorsement contracts, brand-ambassador duties and “trending topic” status (most mentioned term) on Twitter.
He entered the Berlin “Hanns Eisler” conservatoire as an extraordinary student at the age of eleven. Awarded many international prizes even as a teenager and while studying, he now collaborates with the great names of classical music such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Rolando Villazón,Cameron Carpenter, David Foster, Anggun, Itamar Golan and Fazil Say. He is also often to be seen at mass-media events like Miss World or Miss Earth, the Davis Cup, EXPO in Milan, the Fashion Week in Paris or the world premiere in Vienna’s Konzerthaus of the suite for violin and orchestra “Across the Stars” from Star Wars. In addition to the traditional repertoire, he created the concept-concert “Bach&ZEN” in collaboration with a ZEN-Master and also works as a composer and songwriter. His compositions cannot be narrowed down to one genre, but combine influences of filmmusic, baroque, pop and hiphop.
Iskandar is strongly committed to educational projects for children in the Asian Pacific region, typically in collaboration with UNICEF or the WWF. Supported by KOMPAS Gramedia, Indonesia’s biggest media group, and the “besharp foundation” he organizes charity events to finance musical instruments and instruction for orphans, street-, and schoolchildren. His personality and energy are aptly summed up by the string players’ house magazine The Strad, in the following words: “Iskandar Widjaja, a true force of nature.” He plays the “Stephens” 1690 Stradivari and an 1875 JB Vuillaume.
Acclaimed French pianist with Mexican and Lebanese background, Simon Ghraichy is renowned for his unique personal style defined with rich, diverse cultural influences. He is appreciated by peers for his irreproachable virtuosity and remarkable artistic taste, as well as by less experienced listeners for his uninhibited personality and charisma. Thus, prestigious venues such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Carnegie Hall have witnessed a dramatic drop of their audiences’ average age when Ghraichy’s concerts were staged.
Simon Ghraichy learned from such masters as Michel Béroff and Daria Hovora at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP), and Tuija Hakkila at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, before winning numerous awards and launching an international career. Ghraichy has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in chamber music and solo recitals in music halls over the five continents: at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Versailles Royal Opera, Berliner Philharmonie in Germany, Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima, Teatro Mayor in Bogotà, and many other venues in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Australia, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Egypt… He has also been invited to play at the Bard Music Festival of NY, the Baalbeck International Festival in Lebanon, the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in France, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège etc…
Simon Ghraichy has signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His new CD with the Yellow Label, HERITAGES, was released on 4 March 2017 when he performed on the esteemed stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and has been number one in the classical charts. Ghraichy’s discography include Liszt’s b minor sonata together with Schumann’s Kreisleriana and a previous album fully dedicated to Liszt’s Opera transcriptions and paraphrases.
