Having launched their 2018 programme with Dai Fujikura Portrait, Avex Classics International return to the renowned Wigmore Hall on Saturday 2nd June with an exciting second recital. This special concert will feature an all Rachmaninov programme performed by Rachmaninov Specialist and multi award-winning cellist Yuki Ito with acclaimed pianist Sofya Gulyak. This will be the first time that Wigmore Hall has presented an all-Rachmaninov programme on cello.
Ito, who began playing cello aged eight, has long taken inspiration from the music of Sergei Rachmaninov – the composer who wrote his first piece for the cello while still a teen. Together Ito and Gulyak capture Rachmaninov’s melancholy, soulfulness and impassioned virtuoso across both instruments.
Hiroyuki Nakashima, President at Avex Classics International comments, “It has been a great honour for us to share the best of Japanese talents with UK audiences for the last three years. We are proud to have introduced new artists to the venue and are pleased to now bring yet another young talent to this renowned stage. As one of the leading cellists of his generation, Yuki Ito returns to London, where he spent his teen years, to present an all Rachmaninov programme.”
Yuki Ito, described as ‘world-class talent’ by major international critics, is considered one of the top cellists of his generation. In 2011, he won first prize at the UK’s prestigious Windsor Festival International String Competition. In the same year, he made his debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and has since performed with many renowned orchestras and artists including Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Geringas, Seiji Ozawa and Julian Lloyd Webber. In 2016 he gave NHK’s worldwide TV broadcast recital to commemorate the 120th birth of legendary author Kenji Miyazawa, whose centennial anniversary soloist was Yo-Yo Ma.
Ito’s debut album Rachmaninov Complete Cello Works received critical acclaim internationally. His second album The Romantic for Sony Music label was released in 2017. He is Artistic Director of Knightsbridge Philharmonic and a Radio Presenter of ‘Yuki Ito The Romantic’ show on every Sunday on Classical Music Internet Radio OTTAVA.
Sofya Gulyak studied at the Kazan State Conservatoire and the Royal College of Music. In September 2009, she was awarded the first prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction.
She is also first prize winner of the William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International Piano Competition, Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, Isang Yun International Piano Competition in South Korea, San Marino Piano Competition, winner of Busoni Competition in Italy and prize winner of Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris. She is a professor of the piano at the Royal College of Music.
