2023 Orchestral concerts and special recitals
For background information about the Isca Ensemble please see the next page.
Tickets are available in advance online at
www.iscaensemble.org.uk or
www.ticketsource.co.uk
Sidmouth concert tickets are also available from
Paragon Books, 38 High Street, Sidmouth (01395 514516).
Kacper Nowak
Kacper Nowak is a well-established Polish concert cellist based in Brussels.
Gary Hoffman describes him as “a most gifted young cellist with exceptional technical attributes and a very natural and unmannered approach to music.“
Laurent Graulus for the Belgian broadcasting network (RTBF): “Kacper Nowak undoubtedly has the stature of a soloist with a voluptuous, warm, powerful, but always elegant sound. But the element that charmed us the most is perhaps his stylistic accuracy: whether he plays J-S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky or Martinu, Kacper Nowak is credible, and that, in our eyes, is the heighest refinement.”
Michał Klubiński for Ruch muzyczny (Polish leading classical music magazine): "Kacper Nowak proved to be an absolutely sensational cellist... His climaxes, approached with grandeur, vigor, and vitality; the passion, wonderfully executed Elfenmotiv in Mendelssohn, as well as the lively-played Fantasiestücke by Schumann, with significant dynamic contrasts, as if hidden within the meter and prosody of a song, were unparalleled."
Kacper was born in Poland and was in close contact with music from an early age. His artistic education began in Poznań with Danuta Taczanowska, later he studied in Brussels with Didier Poskin, in Cologne with Maria Kliegel, in Antwerp with Justus Grimm, and at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Gary Hoffman. Kacper also took part in many masterclasses with artists such as: Gérard Caussé, Augustin Dumay, Gautier Capuçon, Artemis Quartet, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Natalia Gutman, which allowed him to develop an individual style, full of passion, but also respect for the composer's will. Kacper has won many awards at international competitions, such as the Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria, the International Madrid Competition, the International Music Competition in Vienna, the Liezen Cello Wettbewerb, the Edmond Baert International Cello Competition in Brussels, Supernova (Belgian Radio and Television competition) and Nordic Strings in Denmark. In September 2023, Kacper was a laureate of the International Schoenfeld Competition in Harbin, China, with the Urban Piano Quartet.
Kacper has performed in the most renowned concert halls in Europe and around the world, such as Bozar and Flagey in Brussels, deSingel in Antwerp, Villa Medici in Rome, la Seine Musicale, Theatre de l'Odeon in Paris, Opera in Lyon, Liège Philharmonic, Poznań Philharmonic, Łazienki Królewskie in Warsaw, Cathedral in Milan, Opera in Dubai, Vilnius Academy Hall, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall in London, Konzerthaus in Vienna. In September 2022, Kacper made his debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus, performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the WienerKammerOrchester, this concert was recorded live by MezzoTV. In October of the same year, he gave a concert with music by J. S. Bach at Cadogan Hall in London, broadcast by Mezzo and Medici TV, supported by the Cartier brand. In 2023, he recorded a CD with Lucas Krupinski, dedicated to Polish music. The album contains two premiere recordings of works by Krzysztof Penderecki (Violin Sonata No. 1 arranged for cello and piano) and Andrzej Panufnik (Love Song).
Kacper Nowak is a Pirastro artist, represented by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association.