Kathryn Stott Presents Reuben Tsang: Piano — Young Artist Showcase
About this Event
ABOUT THE EVENT
KATHRYN STOTT PRESENTS...
Internationally renowned both as a soloist and for her chamber work with Yo-Yo Ma and Janine Jansen, Lancashire-born Kathryn Stott is also a passionate and naturally sought-after teacher committed to helping pianists realise their potential, both in music and in their lives beyond. She now teaches exclusively at the Royal Northern College of Music and, as part of her students' development, organises regular showcase recitals for them here at Forsyth.
... REUBEN TSANG: PIANO
Fresh from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, in Brisbane, Australia — and with multiple national and international awards already to his name, including several at the Sydney International Piano Competition — Reuben begins his postgraduate studies with Kathryn in September 2026.
His programme opens with one of the two Nocturnes that Chopin dedicated to his Scottish student and fan Jane Stirling. The 16th of his 21 Nocturnes, this late work abandons the A-B-A structure that had become a staple of the genre in favour of a continuous musical flow, and, instead of the usual monologue, unfolds as a dialogue of two contrapuntal voices.
Scriabin wrote his fifth piano sonata after retreating from the discomforts of Paris to live in the haven of Lausanne. Written as a single movement in only six days, it has become his most-recorded sonata and moved his wife Tatyana to write: "I cannot believe my ears. It is incredible! That sonata pours from him like a fountain. Everything you have heard up to now is as nothing. You cannot even tell it is a sonata. Nothing compares to it."
Rachmaninov's second set of Études-Tableaux Op. 39 were the last works he wrote before leaving Russia for the USA and are among the most demanding works in the piano repertoire. While the raison d'être of any Étude is its specific technical challenge, here the difficulties are compounded both by the composer's famously broad handspan and by the works' extraordinary dramatic scope, even if Rachmaninov preferred to keep his programmatic inspirations to himself: "I do not believe in the artist that discloses too much of his images. Let [the audience] paint for themselves what it most suggests."
We are grateful to the Ida Carroll Trust for supporting our recital series, enabling us to pay the artists who perform here.
PROGRAMME
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), Nocturne in E flat Op. 55/2 (1843–44)
Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), Piano Sonata No. 5 Op. 53 (1907)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943), Études-Tableaux Op. 39 (1916–17)
- Allegro agitato in C minor
- Lento assai in A minor
- Allegro molto in F sharp minor
- Allegro assai in B minor
- Appassionato in E flat minor
- Allegro in A minor
- Lento lugubre in C minor
- Allegro moderato in D minor
- Allegro moderato. Tempo di marcia in D major
ABOUT THE PERFORMER
REUBEN TSANG: PIANO
Praised for his "technical wizardry and versatility" (Sounds Like Sydney), Cairns-born Reuben Tsang began learning the piano with Koko Julian before moving to Brisbane to study at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, first under the guidance of Natasha Vlassenko OAM and, presently, with Daniel de Borah. He holds a Bachelor of Music with Distinction and First Class Honours and was awarded the 2024 Conservatorium Medal.
Reuben won First Prize, Best Recital, and the People's Choice Award at the 2024 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition. He also received multiple prizes at the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition, was a semi-finalist at the 2023 Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark, and won the Elisabeth Murdoch First Prize at the 2022 Great Romantics Competition in Melbourne.
Over the last two years, Reuben has appeared as concerto soloist with the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and has performed nationally in recital and at festivals including the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, Queensland Art Song Festival, Megalong Music Festival, Out West Piano Fest, and the Musical Chairs Chamber Music Festival in Montreal.
In September 2026, Reuben will commence postgraduate studies on scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester under the tutelage of Kathryn Stott.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 5.00
