Purchase Tickets Here
Program:
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979): Cortège
Eugen D’Albert (1864-1932): From Eight Piano Pieces, op. 5
iii. in D minor
vii. in A flat major
viii. in C sharp minor
Richard Wagner (1813-1883), arr. Carson Becke: Träume (Dreams) from Wesendonck Lieder
Richard Wagner, arr. Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
~~~ Intermission ~~~
Carson Becke, after Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Tosca Fantasy
Percy Grainger (1882-1961), after Richard Strauss (1864-1949):
Ramble on the last love duet from the opera “Der Rosenkavalier”
Born and raised in Ottawa, Canadian pianist Carson Becke ( www.carsonbecke.com ) has performed worldwide. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, and at the University of Oxford, where he completed a doctorate in musicology. As a chamber musician, Carson enjoys frequent collaborations with sopranos Lavinia Dames and Meghan Lindsay, violinist Carissa Klopoushak, pianist Suren Barry as Duo Octavian ( www.duooctavian.com ), and with clarinetist Juan Olivares and cellist Cameron Crozman as part of Trio des Collines. As an arranger, he written transcriptions of music by Mendelssohn (Hebrides Overture - solo piano), Puccini (Fantasy on themes from Tosca - solo piano), Holst (The Planets - piano duo), Richard Strauss (Vier Letzte Lieder - piano and voice), and others. Carson is committed to creating structural changes to the music industry in response to climate change, and the resulting need to create more sustainable systems. His TedX talk on this can be heard here . He is enacting those ideas through his directorship of the Pontiac Enchanté concert series ( www.pontiacenchante.ca ): environmental sustainability is one of the cornerstones of its mission, and it is the first classical concert series in Canada with a detailed Green Policy . Carson lived in the United Kingdom for fifteen years: first in London, and then in Oxford. In 2019 he moved home to Ottawa, and now lives in Wakefield, Quebec, with his partner Madeline, and their dogs Jerry and Newman. In addition to his freelance performance work, he is on faculty at the University of Ottawa as a part-time professor, and is a co-director of the recently founded Hills Winter Music Festival ( www.hillsmusic.ca ) in the Outaouais region.