Korean Concert Society prize-winning pianist Aristo Sham has already dazzled audiences on five continents, in countries ranging from Singapore and Argentina, to Slovenia and Morocco, to China and Iceland. Mr. Sham won First Prize at the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of twenty-two, and was also awarded special prizes: the Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Prize, Vancouver Recital Society Prize, John Browning Memorial Prize, Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, Rhoda Walker Teagle New York Debut Prize, and Korean Concert Society Prize. KCS is Pleased to present Aristo Sham in his Kennedy Center Debut on February 7, 2023.
Program
J. S. Bach:
Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828
Beethoven:
Piano Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
Villa-Lobos:
A prole do bebê, Vol. 1
Piazzolla:
Adiós Nonino “Tango Rhapsody”
Barber:
Piano Sonata
“This program is an exploration and dialogue between the German foundations of our classical music genre, and New World reinventions of these forms – the dance suite, and the sonata – both cornerstones of the repertoire. We go from the ‘founding fathers’ of our music, Bach and Beethoven, to the interpretation of these traditional forms under post-colonial, multiculturalist lenses, informed with the Latin American idioms of Villa-Lobos and Piazzolla, and the post-WW2 North American voice of Barber.”
–Aristo Sham
“This young artist’s potential is boundless. He can already hold his own with the best.” – THE WASHINGTON POST
About Aristo Sham
Hailed by the Washington Post as a young artist with “boundless potential” who can “already hold his own with the best,” pianist Aristo Sham has dazzled audiences on five continents in countries ranging from Singapore and Argentina to Slovenia, Morocco, and throughout the United States.
Mr. Sham has performed as soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart, the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, the English Chamber Orchestra under Raymond Leppard, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. In addition, he has given recitals for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago and the Salle Cortot in Paris, and performed for royalty and dignitaries such as Prince Charles, the Queen of Belgium, and ex-President Hu of China.
During the 22-23 season, Young Concert Artists will present Aristo in his Washington, DC debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, as the First Prize winner of the 2018 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. He will perform solo and chamber music recitals with Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Series, Harvard Musical Association, the Morgan Library, and the Miami International Piano Festival. He will appear as concerto soloist in Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto with the Gulf Coast Symphony (Gulfport, MS).
He also won First Prize at the 2019 Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy, the Silver Medal at the 2018 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, First Prize at the 2018 Charles Wadsworth International Piano Competition, First Prize and the Barenreiter Urtext Special Prize at Germany’s Ettlingen International Piano Competition, First Prize at the New York International Piano Competition, and top prizes at the Viseu (Portugal), Wideman, PianoArts, Clara Haskil, Saint-Priest and Viotti Piano Competitions, as well as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Last season, he appeared at the Festivals of Tippet Rise, Bravo! Vail, Glafsfjordens (Sweden), and the International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdroj, Poland.
A native of Hong Kong, Aristo completed a joint program of Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. Harvard granted him a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in French in 2019, and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory in 2020. He currently resides in Sweden, where he serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Ingesund School of Music. Mr Sham has also attended the Harrow School in the United Kingdom and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. In his free time, Mr. Sham enjoys traveling, languages, gastronomy, and oenology