Programme
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Cello Sonata
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Cello Sonata in G minor
Musician Biographies
Idlir Shyti is an Albanian cellist based in London. He has been awarded the ‘Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste’ under the tutelage of Anssi Karttunen at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Preceding, he studied with Richard Lester at the Royal College of Music London and at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia Rome with Maurizio Gambini. In his journey of learning, he has come across and played for many renown musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Gary Hoffman and Johannes Goritzki.
As a soloist he has performed with Sudwestdeutche Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Southbank Sinfonia, Orkestra Filharmonike e Tiranes amongst others. An ardent chamber musician, he has been invited to play at Rome Chamber Music Festival, Leamington Festival, Anghiari Festival, Different trains Festival, Southwark International Music Festival, alongside artists like the Allegri Quartet, Alberto Portugheis.
His passion for contemporary music has led him to premiere chamber music works at Cheltenham Festival, Festival of Contemporary Music for All as part of Chineke and IXION ensembles. He has worked with composers such as David Yazbek, Joseph Sonnabend, Michael Finnissy, Morgan Hayes, Xia-Leon Sloane. London premieres include ‘The Key’ Opera by Francesca Le Lohe for three trio ensembles and Kenneth Hesketh`s Ein Lichtspiel.
Idlir is also an enthusiastic orchestra musician and has collaborated with Philharmonia Orchestra, English National Opera, BBC NOW, BBC CO, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Welsh National Opera.
His beloved good looking cello was made by Peter Beare in 2007.
Pianist and composer Mateusz Rettner enjoys a career as successful as it is diverse. In his recitals he often couples works from the standard repertoire with lesser known pieces and includes new works, many of them written especially for him.
His recent achievements include: receiving the Mercers’ Arts Award, 1st prize in the Brooks-van der Pump Competition in London, being a finalist in the prestigious Opus Yvelines Piano Competition in Maisons-Laffitte (France) as well as releasing a multi-award winning CD on the DUX label with works by Grażyna Bacewicz. Additionally, Mateusz Rettner has recently been awarded the City of Warsaw Artistic Scholarship to compose a musical work based on the Warsaw Uprising Diary by Polish writer and poet Miron Białoszewski.
Mateusz Rettner’s performance career as a soloist and chamber musician has taken him to some of the most prestigious venues in the UK as well as Poland, Germany and Spain, such as: Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, the Royal Over-Seas League, Warsaw Philharmonic, Ambika P3, Lodz Philharmonic, Victoria and Albert Museum, Gdansk Philharmonic, Chopin Museum in Warsaw, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall in London and others. In 2016 he made his concerto debut with the Lodz Philharmonic.
He has worked closely with many young musicians, but also with well-established composers, such as: Steve Reich, Chaya Czernowin, David Lang, Marco Stroppa, Michael Finnissy, Zygmunt Krauze and others.
Upcoming projects include giving premieres of new works written for La Tache Ensemble (a new music group founded by Mateusz Rettner) as well as a concert tour presenting the piano and chamber works of Gabriel Fauré, Alexander Scriabin, Isaac Albeniz, Karol Szymanowski and Bogusław Schaeffer.
The artist has obtained a Master’s Degree (with distinction) from the Royal College of Music, London where he studied with prof. Dina Parakhina and prof. Leon McCawley as an RCM Award Holder supported by a Jenny Marsh Chapman Memorial Award as well as a Nina Polani Award. Previously he studied at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, Germany (with prof. Nicolas Hodges) and the Academy of Music in Lodz. He has attended masterclasses led by: Dmitri Bashkirov, Leslie Howard, Kirill Gerstein, Andrzej Jasinski, Dmitri Alexeev, Philippe Giusiano, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron, Michel Beroff, Ewa Pobłocka, Laurent Lamy, Wojciech Switala and others. He has recently obtained a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Marek Szlezer at the Academy of Music in Kraków.
Donations
Chichester Cathedral's Lunchtime Concert series is self-supporting, and thrives through the generosity of its audiences. While there is no charge for admission, we suggest a minimum donation of £3 per person, with Gift Aid applied if possible. Donations can be made in the retiring collection, in the Cathedral, at our Visitor’s Desk or at various donation points, using cash, card and contactless or using the button below.
Can't make it this time?
Lunchtime Concerts take place every Tuesday at 1.10pm during term-time, our talented performers come from across the UK and occasionally overseas, to delight our audiences with music from Beethoven to Chopin, Elgar to Mozart and more.