BEETHOVEN 250
Saturday, August 29 at 19:00 House of the Blackheads
Pikk 26, Tallinn

Irina Zahharenkova (piano), Robert Traksmann (violin), Sten Heinoja (piano)

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor op 111
I Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
II Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

Violin Sonata No 9 „Kreutzer“ in A major op 47
I Adagio sostenuto – Presto
II Andante con variazioni
III Finale (Presto)

IRINA ZAHHARENKOVA is one of the most outstanding and unique pianists of her generation. She started with piano lessons with her mother when she was four, studied at the Tallinn Georg Ots Music School (Prof. Mare Ots) and Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT, piano: Prof. Lilian Semper; harpsichord: Prof. Maris Valk-Falk), where she got her Master’s degree in 2003 (Prof. L. Semper). Irina continued at the EAMT doctoral studies in 2003–2011. In 2010, she also got her Master’s degree from Helsinki Sibelius Academy in Finland (Prof. Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna). I. Zahharenkova has taken part in the masterclasses of several well-known pianists (S. Kovachevich, A. Hewitt, A. Schiff, V. Meržanov, H. Dreyfus, P. Hantaï, C. Stembridge, P. Vapavuori etc) and won first prizes in major international piano competitions such as the M. Čiurlionise Competition (Lithuania, 2003), “Prémio Jaén” Competition (Spain, 2004), “Van Vlaanderen” Festival Piano Competition Brügges (Belgium, 2004), Competition in Epinal (France, 2004), “Praha Spring“ Harpsichord Competition (Czech Republic, 2005), G. Enescu Piano Competition (Romenia, 2005), competition in Genf (Switzerland, 2005), Alessandro Casagrande Competition (Italy, 2006), J. S. Bach Competition (Leipzig, 2006), Villa-Lobos Competition (Brazil, 2006) and A. Rubinštein Piano Competition (Israel, 2008). I. Zahharenkova has performed in international festivals in Italy, Germany, Finland, Norway and elsewhere, she is consistently one of the first ones to be invited to the reputed Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival as well as Eivere Piano Festival and Tallinn Chamber Music Festival. She has performed as a soloist with several orchestras including Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre National de Lorraine and she is constantly giving chamber concerts with solo works for piano as well as harpsichord. Two CD’s with her interpretations have been released: J. S. Bach “Goldberg Variations” BWV 988 (2010, Classical Recordings) and D. Scarlatti Sonatas (2012, Classical Records) and also DVD “Keyboard Juggleress” (2009, Estonian Records Production). Irina’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles from baroque to contemporary. Today she lives and teaches in Finland, Sibelius Academy and at the EAMT. She has also pursued the organ, chemistry, as well as Estonian and Finnish philology for her own interest.

ROBERT TRAKSMANN started playing the violin at the age of 4 under the guidance of teacher Tiiu Peäske. He graduated from Tallinn Music High School (2014, Tiiu Peäske) and the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin with a Bachelor’s degree (2018, Prof. Kolja Blacher), where he is currently pursuing a Master’s degree under the supervision of the same lecturer. He has completed several masterclasses (Ulrike Danhofer, Florian Donderer, Arvo Leibur, Jüri Gerretz, Robert Rozek and Ivry Gitlis). R. Traksmann has also joined the ranks of several prestigious groups, including Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Orchester der Karajan Akademie Berliner Philharmoniker, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Festival Orchestra, Vox Clamantis, YXUS and others. As a concertmaster, he has performed with several youth orchestras, as well as at the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra’s season opening concert (2018). Since 2019, R. Traksmann has been a member of the Association of Estonian Professional Musicians. He has performed as a soloist with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, German Youth Symphony Orchestra (Tübingen), Pärnu City Orchestra, Virumaa Chamber Orchestra, Haapsalu Festival Orchestra, TMHS String Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra. The most dignified of the competition results is the 1st prize at the Pärnu Violin Competition (2010) together with the special prizes of the Pärnu City Orchestra and Tubin Society. The year 2019 is marked by performances as a soloist at the Baltic Sea Festival in Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, the Mozartiana Festival in Gdansk and the XXVII Estonian Song Celebration. As an active chamber musician, he has had the longest collaboration in the ensemble Trio ’95 with Rasmus Andreas Raide and Marcel Johannes Kits. He has performed in the most important concert halls in Estonia and won awards at several festivals. Trio ’95 has won the First Prize at the international Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition in Finland (2020) and the international competition “Pavasario Sonata” in Lithuania (2012). Together they have furthered their skills with Francis Gouton and Alexander Bondurianski. R. Traksmann has been given a violin, made by Giuseppe Gagliano and his brother Antonio (1775-1780) and a bow by Joseph Artur Vigneron (1890), for use by the Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments.

STEN HEINOJA regularly works as a chamber and solo musician in Europe, Asia and the United States, giving about 40 concerts a year. For the last 5 years he has lived in London, where he works mainly as a freelance pianist in various chamber ensembles. The duo with violinist Roberto Ruis has been a great success, culminating in a concert at Wigmore Hall this season. In February 2020, the duo won the prestigious Swiss Ambassador Award, which includes a CD recording and a concert tour in England and Switzerland. His most successful ensemble partners include Singapore violinist Yume Fujitse, with whom he made his debut last year in Japan and England’s major halls at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Saint Johns Smiths Square, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall in London, and with whom he takes part in programs, which introduce music and the playing of instruments for young people through the Nicola Benedett Foundation. In addition, S. Heinoja is a part of a piano trio Hämarik with violinist Triin Ruubel-Lilleberg and cellist Theodor Sink. He has also been successful in several competitions, including the winner of the VIII Competition of Estonian Pianists (2014, in addition he was awarded 5 special prizes), the winner of the Classic Stars (2016) and the 1st Prize in the Kendall Taylor Beethoven Competition (2018, London). In the same year, S. Heinoja was chosen to participate in the prestigious Honens 2018 competition in New York, where he reached the quarterfinals. In recent years, concert tours have taken him to India, China, the USA, Israel, Japan, Russia and most European countries. One of his most important stage partners from Estonia is cellist Marcel Johannes Kits, with whom tours to Romania, the Netherlands, France and Germany are expected in the 2020/21 season. In addition to the active life of a chamber musician, S. Heinoja often shares the stage with several orchestras, the most important of which are the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Kymi Sinfonietta, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tel Aviv Opera Orchestra, Järvi Academy Youth Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, FLSO, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra with conductors Andres Mustonen, Alexey Izmirliev, Eimer Noon, James Feddeck, Arvo Volmer, Tõnu Kaljuste and many others. S. Heinoja started his piano studies at the age of 4 at Tallinn Music High School (teachers Maie Klesment and Marju Roots). At the same time, he was also supervised by Prof. Ivari Ilja of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, in whose class he obtained a Bachelor’s degree (2015, cum laude). He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music in London with a Master’s degree (Prof. Vanessa Latarche and Sofya Gulyak, Artist Diploma, 2018), for which he was awarded a full scholarship.