Romantic Brazilian Sonatas
Presented by Poliphonia
A London based charity launched to promote the music of the Americas in the UK.
Through concerts, recordings, score restoration and education, Poliphonia aims to unlock exciting and diverse repertoire of the Americas to wider audiences. The revision and digitization of scores still in manuscript form will be a key focus of the charity along with a commitment to commissioning new works and supporting younger musicians.
The charity has been established by one of Brazil’s leading classical musicians, pianist Clélia Iruzun along with Renato Martins, the violinist Nadia Myerscough, the cellist Nick Roberts and double bass player Sarah Neil.
Anthony Flint commenced his musical education in his native England but moved to Canada at an early age, continuing at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto where he studied violin with David Mankovitz and piano with Patricia Holt. He completed his musical education by graduating from Indiana University, Bloomington with the highest distinction after having studied with James Buswell, Larry Shapiro, Franco Gulli and Joseph Gingold.
As concertmaster, his career began whilst still in his teens in Spoleto, Italy, leading Gian Carlo Menotti's orchestra in 'Il Festival dei Due Mondi'. After graduation, he was appointed to lead various orchestras in Canada and the USA. including the CJRT radio symphony, Toronto and the orchestra of Illinois, Chicago. From 1989, he served as first concertmaster of Orchestra della svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, a position he held until retirement in 2012. As well as this, he spent ten years as regular guest concertmaster with the West Deutsches Rundfunk, Cologne, Germany and five seasons as acting concertmaster with Orquestra do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil. He also frequently played as concertmaster with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC Northern in Scotland, the English National Opera, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon and the Zurcher Kammerorchester, in Zurich.
Combined with this activity, Anthony Flint has performed extensively as both soloist and chamber musician with many internationally renowned artists such as Vladimir Viardo, Jean Bernard Pommier, Bruno Pasquier, Yuri Bashmet, Wolfgang Boettcher, Wen Sinn Yang, Max Rabinovitz and Steven Swedish. Most recently, he was appointed yet again to lead the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Clélia Iruzun’s endearing artistic personality, which combines her native Brazilian spirit with her exceptional musical gifts, has enabled this much-admired London-based pianist to build an enviable reputation for her performances of a wide range of music, from the great classical repertoire to works by significant figures from across the Americas.
Clélia Iruzun initially studied at the School of Music in Rio de Janeiro before becoming an advanced student at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where she won a number of major prizes. She has subsequently worked with Nelson Freire, Jacques Klein, Stephen Kovacevich and Fou Ts'Ong, among other international artists, and many important Brazilian composers have written works for her.
Clélia’s busy life embraces frequent appearances across Europe, the Americas and Asia. She has performed on television and radio in many countries, including frequent broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.
Clélia has made a number of highly successful CDs ranging from Latin American composers to Concertos by Mendelssohn and the British composer Elizabeth Maconchy. Recently released to great acclaim is a new album on the international Somm label of the Piano Concertos of Francisco Mignone and Isaac Albéniz with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jac van Steen.