Inmo Yang & Yannick Rafalimanana

Violin & Piano

Date & Time: Thursday 16th May 2024, 8pm
Venue: The Saloon, Russborough House
Ticket Info: Tickets €38 / €19 student concession
(+ booking fee)

For group bookings or for those having any issues booking, please contact manager@westwicklowfestival.com
Artists: Inmo Yang / violin
Yannick Rafalimanana / piano
Programme: C.P.E. Bach Sonata in B-flat major for violin and piano, Wq. 77
Mozart Sonata in E minor for violin and piano, K304
Schumann Fantasy in C major, Op.131
Lili Boulanger Nocturne et Cortège
Franck Sonata in A major for violin and piano

Korean violinist Inmo Yang is the first prize winner of both the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition and the Premio Paganini International Competition. No stranger to award hardware himself, French pianist Yannick Rafalimanana regularly performs in the world’s leading venues, including Berliner Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus in Vienna.

Our festival audience can look forward a gold standard performance featuring exquisite classical sonatas by C.P.E Bach and Mozart, the impassioned romanticism of a Schumann Fantasy, Lili Boulanger’s beautiful and delicately coloured Nocturne et Cortège, and Franck’s monumental Violin Sonata, which swells and sweeps with joyful optimism.

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Inmo Yang performs Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 at the Sibelius Violin Competition in 2022.

Yannick Rafalimanana & Berliner Philharmoniker Soloists perform Schubert's 'Trout' Quintet

“The rich sound he drew from his violin had lovely bloom during sustained passages and lean, silvery colorings during fleet ones.”
The New York Times (on Inmo Yang)

Korean violinist Inmo Yang is the first prize winner of the 2022 Jean Sibelius Violin Competition.Sakari Oramo - the chair of the jury- commented: “The winner was overwhelming. There is so much great about Inmo’s playing, both musically and violinistically. There is never anything extra involved in changing the spring, which produces singing and ease.”

In March 2015, Inmo won the 54th International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa, Italy, marking the first time since 2006 that the Paganini Competition jury awarded First Prize. Fabio Luisi, the chair of the jury at the time, commented: “Inmo is an intuitive musician. His Paganini is captivating and exquisite.” He also garnered the following special prizes: youngest finalist, best performance of the contemporary original piece, performance most appreciated by the audience, and a special recital in Genoa using Paganini’s own Guarneri Del Gesu violin.

Inmo made his Carnegie Hall debut at the Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition, and went on to receive invitations to the Boston Symphony Hall, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival.

Inmo has performed with many renowned conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Sakari Oramo, Myung-whun Chung, James Gaffigan, David Robertson, Marin Alsop, and Osmo Vänskä. His concerto appearances include Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Metz, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Busan Philharmonic Orchestra. Notable engagements for the upcoming season include his London debut at the Barbican Center with the BBC Symphony orchestra/Sakari Oramo, Sibelius concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra/Santtu-Mattias Rouvali at Mikkeli Festival, and a tour with the Hong Kong Philharmonic/Roberto Gonzales-Monjas.

In 2021, Inmo released his second Deutsche Grammophon album [The Genetics of Strings]. His debut album - 24 Caprices by N. Paganini - was recorded live as part of the Kumho Art Hall residency and released under the same label in 2019.

French pianist Yannick Rafalimanana has developed an international concert career performing recitals and chamber music concerts regularly throughout Europe, the United States, South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Winning the first prize in the 2012 Tufts/New England Conservatory Soloist Competition, he made his US debut in Symphony Hall in Boston, playing Schumann Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart. He recently performed at the Berliner Philarmonie, in Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Chamber Hall, in the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Kennedy Center in Washington, live on Boston’s radio station WBGH, in Jordan Hall with the Borromeo String Quartet, in Boston with violists Kim Kashkashian and Thomas Reibl, in Poland with violinists Andreas Reiner, Arnold Steinhardt and in Shelter Island (NY) sharing the stage with Itzhak Perlman. He also made his Brazil recital debut performing at the Mube Museum and his Israel debut performing at the Jerusalem Music Center.

He has won numerous awards and prizes in several competitions, including the Borromeo Quartet Guest Artist Award, the Bruxelles J-Musiciens Competition, the Brest Piano Competition, and the International Ravel Academy's Rotary-Lions Competition. As a soloist, Yannick has performed regularly with the Orchestre CNR de Lille, Orchestre Impromptu, and the Ensemble Parisien.

Born in Lille, France, Yannick began his musical studies at the Conservatory of Lille under the tutelage of Alain Raes. He later graduated with first prizes in both Piano Performance, and Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano Performance, from the 'Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris'. Among his teachers are Bruno Rigutto, Michael Levinas and Jean-Claude Pennetier. His chamber music and collaborative piano coaches include Francois Salque, Michel Moraguais, David Walter and Jean Koerner. Mr. Rafalimanana graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Graduate Diploma in Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Chamber Music under Vivian Weilerstein.