Francesco Dillon, cello; Emanuele Torquati, piano

“Mr. Torquati did exceptionally well in his fascinating program… [which] conveyed not just how he plays the piano, but how he hears and thinks about music.” Anthony Tommasini, NY Times

Giacinto Scelsi: To the Master
Ryan Carter: break; (world premiere)
Marco Momi: Unstill — written for Dillon/Torquati (US Premiere)
Salvatore Sciarrino: Melencolia 1
Debussy: Sonate pour violoncelle et piano

Pianist Emanuele Torquati is rapidly gaining international recognition for his poetic and passionate music making, communicative performances and engaging programming. He has been hailed as “a thoughtful musician and a champion of contemporary music” by the New York Times and as “a vibrant pianist, excellent overall” by the Boston Globe. His flourishing career has taken him to some of Europe, Canada, America and Africa’s most illustrious venues, in such diverse cities as Addis Abeba, Buenos Aires (Teatro Colon), San Francisco, Toronto, Banff, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Boston, Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, Berlin, Leipzig, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Munich, Graz, Ljubljana, Kiev and Oslo.

Cellist Francesco Dillon (b.Turin, 1973) already has a brilliant international career to his credit, characterised by the originality and variety of the repertoire that he has embraced. As a soloist he has performed on such prestigious concert stages as the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal of Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Jordan Hall in Boston and the Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires, with such orchestras as the Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI), the Southwest Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna, the Orchestra of the Colon Theatre, Ensemble Resonanz, Oulu Sinfonia Finland, and the Tuscany Regional Orchestra (ORT). Most recently he made an acclaimed debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, conducted by Susanna Mallki. Having graduated in Florence under the guidance of Andrea Nannoni, he continued his studies with Anner Bijlsma, Mario Brunello, David Geringas and Mstislav Rostropovich, thereafter studying composition with Salvatore Sciarrino.

Note: This duo will return to the Academy one year after this concert, in Fall 2019, to perform Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, on three evenings: October 8th, 10th, and 12th, 2019.
Free and open to the public; reservations not required.

From the Italian Academy at Columbia University.