William Fong - “London, Paris, New York: The Noughties!”

• Kira Frolu, pianoforte
  Edward MacDowell (1860-1908): Fireside Tales, op. 61 (1902)
• William Fong, pianoforte
  C. Debussy (1862-1918): Estampes (1903)
• Thomas Kelly, pianoforte
  Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979): Theme and Variations (1907)

William’s international career was launched in 1984 when he won the first prize, gold medal and Rosa Sabater prize at the Concurso Internacional de Piano in Jaén, Spain. His concerto début at St. John’s Smith Square with the Philharmonia Orchestra followed soon after. He subsequently added successes in the Busoni, Cleveland, Iturbi, and Scottish International Competitions. Performances in New York, Moscow and St Petersburg (under the auspices of the Sviatoslav Richter Foundation), and in Europe have drawn critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences. Invited to China, supported by Arts Council England, William has performed and given master classes in Shanghai. He has also performed in Australia at the invitation of the Chair of the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference and was the keynote speaker, giving a recital and master classes, at the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand conference in Auckland. William maintains a busy schedule of recitals, master classes, teaching and lecturing both in the UK and abroad, as well as regular commitments to some of the finest international piano summer schools. A musician of wide interests, William has performed with ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet and members of Guildhall Strings. He has also collaborated with singers Steve Davislim and James Rutherford and has recorded some fascinating and little known repertoire in the chamber music field. His concerts have been broadcast on television and on radio in Europe and the US. William has performed at all of London’s major venues. His concerts have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, and BBC television. A distinguished teacher, William is in demand for master classes and adjudication in the UK and overseas. He is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and Head of Keyboard at the Purcell School for Young Musicians – one of Europe’s leading specialist schools for talented young musicians.

Born in 2000 in Bucharest, Romania, Kira Frolu started piano lessons as a hobby at the age of six and moved to the National College of Music “Dinu Lipatti” at the age of ten to study under the guidance of Elena Petrenco. After completing the first two years of high school in Bucharest, Kira auditioned successfully at the Purcell School for Young Musicians in London, where she was supported by the UK Government. Since then she has been studying with prof. William Fong and in 2018 she was accepted with a full-scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Kira has won several international prizes and has given solo recitals at several prestigious concert halls in the UK, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. She has also been invited to masterclasses around Europe and had lessons with Stephen Kovacevich, Nikolai Demidenko, Grigory Gruzman, Dmitri Alexeev and Noriko Ogawa, among others. She has also been involved in projects about musical education and teaching in high schools.

Since arriving at the Purcell School, Thomas Kelly was fortunate enough to play in a variety of venues including the Fazioli Hall in Sacile, St Martin In the Fields and the Wigmore Hall twice. After winning the school concerto prize, he performed the Brahms 2nd Concerto in the Cadogan Hall with Moritz Gnann conducting in March 2018. In August 2017, he participated in the Pianale International Piano Competition in Germany where he won the EMCY prize, senior jury prize and the privilege to a recital in Bayreuth in July 2018.