The year is going well for music graduate Kevin Suherman. An artist with the Team of Pianists, and staff member at Hello Music Studios, he recently became the winner of the 2016 Melbourne Recital Centre Great Romantics Competition. Now there’s a solo recital at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s historic Melba Hall, with strong audience appeal. And it’s free!
Kevin Suherman will present an eclectic program, spanning three centuries of compositions for solo piano, including works by Australian composer Carl Vine. Classic Melbourne was interested in why the young pianist had chosen these works, all very worthy but quite varied. Here’s his response…
Bach – Partita in Bb Major
Best-known partita for keyboard, beautifully constructed with each movement contributing different moods and feelings to the whole work. I chose this Partita as I believe it is a “pianist-must” work by Bach.
Beethoven – Piano Sonata in Eb Major, op. 27 no. 1
One of my favourite Beethoven Piano Sonatas, this sonata has four movements – each movement continuing to the next without too much of a break. I believe it has everything in it, from sadness to joy, calm to turmoil, and lyricism with technical challenge.
Mendelssohn – Fantasie in F# Minor op. 28
This is an interesting one because this work is not known much at all by the public! I chose it because it is simply “Mendelssohnesque” if that makes sense… A great and wonderful piece of music by him that more and more people should know about!
Vine – Five Bagatelles
Though I haven’t chosen a lot of modern music, this work does appeal to me a lot. As a whole it’s like going through a journey encompassing five different places and stories.
Chopin – Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante
Simple – my most favourite work by Chopin. I have played it since I was 11 and I’m not planning to stop any time soon…
Rachmaninoff – Liebesfreud
A great way to end the program, I think – Rachmaninoff’s transcription from Kreisler’s melody, Love’s Joy, certainly makes for the “big finish” to end the evening’s concert.
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About the concert:
2 December 2016 | 7:30 PM
Where: Melba Hall, Royal Parade, Parkville
Admission: Free, no bookings required
Venue: Melba Hall, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Gate 12, Royal Parade, Parkville, 3010
More on the Melbourne Conservatorium’s Events Page
About the pianist:
Indonesian-born pianist Kevin Suherman started learning the piano when he was 6 years old. Apart from classical music, he also learned pop and jazz and, in 2008, he entered Melbourne Grammar School with a full scholarship. Kevin’s performing experiences started back when he was 9 years old, winning two Yamaha competitions in Bandung. At the age of 10, Kevin received an Indonesian National Award (MURI) for performing 50 classical, pop and jazz pieces nonstop without any score. Since then, he began to perform frequently in solo concerts, on TV shows and in charity events such as for the Yogyakarta Earthquake victims.
Since the age of 12, Kevin has performed a wide range of piano concertos such as concertos by Chopin, Beethoven, Khachaturian, Dohnanyi, Saint-Säens, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. Over the past years, Kevin has visited Singapore, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Nan Jing, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Surabaya, Medan, Jakarta and Bandung for solo and concerto performances.
Competition successes include the 14th International Ettlingen Youth Piano Competition in Germany (semi-finalist), and first-rounder in the 60th International Busoni Piano Competition in Italy. Kevin is the national first prizewinner from the 2013 Australian Youth Classical Music Competition, the 2013 Royal South Street Chopin Competition, the 2014 Vera Bradford Concerto Competition, (as well as the Elisabeth Murdoch Prize from the 2016 Melbourne Recital Centre Great Romantics Competition).
Kevin as an artist of Schimmel Pianos (Germany) has made 3 solo piano albums in Melbourne, with his third CD highlighting Chopin’s 24 Preludes Op. 28. He has been to Europe for further studies with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Prof. Rolf Plagge in Salzburg, Prof. Andrea Bonatta in Italy and Prof. Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna At present, he continues to study the piano with Prof. Max Cooke. Having finished his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Melbourne in 2015, Kevin is now undertaking his Bachelor of Music with Honours, with a scholarship.
Kevin Suherman loves jazz, composing, conducting, and teaching but his true passion is to become a concert pianist. The Melba Hall concert is an important step along the way. Don’t miss it!
