Montecatini Gala 

MIDSUMMER CONCERT

Aisa Ijiri & Kristin Malmborg

Experience the enchantment of a Midsummer Concert by Pianist, Steinway Artist Aisa Ijiri and Swedish Cellist Kristin Malmborg. Having cultivated their special musical bond as young students at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Aisa and Kristin have shared wonderful adventures together, that span many continents, and also performed at prestigious venues throughout Sweden, London, and Bath and also Courchevel in the French Alps.

Now, as Midsummer approaches, they reunite once more at the 1901 Arts Club, to celebrate their 20 years of friendship over a romantic programme featuring works by Debussy, Chopin and Swedish Composer Emil Sjögren ;
inspired by the beautiful memories of Swedish Midsummer!

Step into a realm of musical enchantment and join us for an evening of pure fairytale magic!

Aisa Ijiri
(Piano)

Following her sensational debut recitals at the Tokyo Opera City (2010) and the Carnegie Hall in New York (2017), Aisa Ijiri has established herself as one of the award-winning Concert Pianist and Steinway Artist, described as “a special talent whose European sophistication, fierce passion and poetic sentiment create an artistic atmosphere”- Record Geijutsu, Tokyo.

Born in Japan, Aisa made her concerto debut at the age of 15 at the Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw and as a recitalist at the Konserthuset, Stockholm. Since then, she has given regular recitals at prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall, Kioi Hall (Tokyo), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, Kolarac and at the international music festivals including Wimbledon International Music Festival, Three Choirs Festival, Lichfield Festival and Chopin Festival in Duzniki-Zdroj. Her concerts have been broadcast on Classic FM, BBC Television 1, BBC Radio 3, RTS, N1 TV and CNN Worldwide. Aisa played the starring role of the film “AISA”, directed by Marco della Fonte, and won the Best Experimental Film Award at the 2022 Hollywood Boulevard Film Festival.

As a concerto soloist, Aisa has performed piano concertos with the Osaka Century Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Musica Celeste, Orion Orchestra, Bushey Symphony Orchestra, Salonorchester Alt Wien, La Filharmonie, Guildhall Symphony Orchestra with Sir George Benjamin among others. In 2019, she gave an acclaimed performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Emperor’ with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Sachio Fujioka. Aisa has released piano solo albums on N.A.T Records, WW Records and Aun J Classic Orchestra. She is also an official Steinway&Sons Recording Artist for ‘SPIRIO Catalogue’.

Aisa is a graduate of the Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Stockholm (Bachelor’s Degree), Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Master’s Degree) and the Royal College of Music, London (Artist Diploma) with distinction. She was awarded a “Cultural Encouragement Award” by the Mayor of Shiga in Japan as the youngest ever winner.

Aisa is a Steinway Artist, and the Founder & Artistic Director of the Tokyo International Piano Association (TIPA) and the Montecatini International Piano Competition.

PROGRAMME

Emil Sjögren :
Sonata for Cello & Piano in A major, Op. 58

Claude Debussy :
Nocturne et Scherzo

Fryderyk Chopin :
Sonata for Cello & Piano in G minor, Op. 65

Kristin Malmborg
(Cello)

Kristin Malmborg is a cellist and chamber musician who has been working with among others the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, Nordic Chamber Orchestra and Swedish Chamber Orchestra with which she also has made several tours with around Europe and the USA. She has also been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in 2008-2009.

In collaboration with her pianists Kristin is regularly performing duo-concerts all around Sweden, and as a member of different chamber music groups she has been performing mostly in Sweden but also in Canada, Poland, UK, Germany and Italy. As an artist or member of various chamber music group she as been invited to play on several music festivals, including Lövstabruk Chamber Music Festival, Sundsvall Chamber Music Festival, Örnsköldsvik Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, Montecatini Piano Music Festival in Italy, Warsaw Autumn and Baltic Neopolis Festival in Poland.

She started her studies at the Swedish Royal Academy of music 2002, continued her postgraduate studies in Stuttgart Musikhochschule and finished her studies with an artistic stage diploma at the Frederic Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in 2007.

Kristin Malmborg has always had a big passion for teaching and 2014 she founded the ”Östermalms Cello Academy” in Stockholm. She is currently playing on a cello made by Wojciech Topa and a bow made by Marcin Siwiec.