Oct. 27: The Phillips Collection Presents Cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia in Recital with Pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
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The Phillips Collection Presents
Cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia in Recital

BBC New Generation Artists Performs with Pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion,
Featuring Works by Psathas, Márquez, Duparc, Debussy, Schnittke and Stravinsky

Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 4:00pm | The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

“technically flawless” – The Strad

“one of the most promising young cellists” – Forbes Colombia

santiagocanonvalencia.com
 

Washington D.C. (September 19, 2024) – Celebrated for his “poised and imaginative playing” (The Washington Post), Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia will perform in recital with pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 4:00pm. The two artists combine for a program showcasing their shared passion for collaborating with living composers and championing lesser-known works, highlighting music by contemporary composers John Psathas and Arturo Márquez alongside selections by Duparc, Debussy, Schnittke and Stravinsky. The performance will be live-streamed, with viewing instructions available at: www.phillipscollection.org/music.

The program opens with Duparc’s work Lamento, followed by Debussy’s Sonata in D minor and Psathas’ works Halo, Red Halo, Stacia and Angelus. In the program’s second half, Cañón-Valencia and Asuncion open with Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style, followed by Márquez’ work Lejanía Interior. The program concludes with Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne.

On the inspiration behind the program, Cañón-Valencia said the selected works reflect both personal associations and his values as a performer. “When I’m creating a recital program it is always important to me to include either new or little-known works, and I like to build an original program around these unique pieces,” he said. “I have a personal connection to these two contemporary works, Psathas’ Halo and Marquez’s Lejanía Interior, which makes them particularly special to me:

“Psathas’ Halo was a piece that was commissioned for cellist James Tennant (my teacher of six years during my time living and studying in New Zealand and pianist Katherine Austin, James’ partner with whom I performed extensively during my time in New Zealand. They released the first recording of Halo in 2020, and I absolutely loved the piece, so I am very happy to be able to perform it myself now!

“Marquez’s Lejanía Interior was a piece that was commissioned for the 2006 Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition in México. Most of the time, commissioned pieces for music competitions tend to be forgotten after being performed; however, I remember having this feeling of familiarity while learning Lejania Interior and I have enjoyed continuing to perform it since the competition.”

Besides being an exceptional soloist, Cañón-Valencia is a prolific composer, commissioner, recording artist, painter and photographer described as "technically flawless… totally under the skin of the composers’ idioms" (The Strad). Born in Bogotá in 1995, he made his orchestral debut as a soloist at age six with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, blossoming into an accomplished musician praised as “an artist from whom sound and texture flow with ease and authenticity” (The Whole Note). Among his highlights this season, he performs at the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists weekend on October 19 and 20, 2024, and with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, on December 10, 2024. The 2024-2025 season also takes him to engagements in Spain, Germany, Belgium, Canada and across the United States.

Program Information
October 27, 2024 at 4:00pm
The Phillips Collection Presents Santiago Cañón-Valencia and Victor Santiago Asuncion
The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.
Link: https://www.phillipscollection.org/event/2024-10-27-santiago-canon-valencia-and-Victor-Santiago-Asuncion
Live-stream: www.phillipscollection.org/music

Program:
Henri Duparc – Lamento
Claude Debussy – Sonata in D minor
John Psathas – Halo, Red Halo, Stacia, Angelus
Alfred Schnittke – Suite in the Old Style
Arturo Márquez – Lejanía Interior
Igor Stravinsky – Suite Italienne

More About Santiago Cañón-Valencia
Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia is a prolific soloist, composer, commissioner, recording artist, painter and photographer described as "technically flawless… totally under the skin of the composers' idioms" (The Strad). A 2022 BBC Next Generation Artist, Cañón-Valencia was born in Bogotá in 1995 and made his orchestral debut as a soloist when he was six years old with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá.

After a summer of recitals in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain and Korea, Cañón-Valencia launches his 2024-2025 season with the Camerata Pacifica on a California tour with Paul Huang and Gilles Vonsattel. He performs as a featured soloist across Europe, including concerts with the Orchestra of Extremadura led by Juan Pablo Valencia in Spain and the Niederbayerische Philharmonic conducted by Ektoras Tartanis in Germany. In North America, he returns to the Phoenix Symphony with conductor Julian Rachlin and Symphony Nova Scotia with conductor Holly Mathieson in Halifax, Canada.

Cañón-Valencia’s 2023-2024 season highlights included his Wigmore Hall recital debut; broadcasts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra; debuts with the Danish Chamber Orchestra and Belgrade Philharmonic; returns to the Latvian National Orchestra, RTVE Orchestra, and Belgrade Philharmonic; U.S. recitals; returns to the Alabama Symphony and the Mostly Cello Festival in Korea; and performances in Colombia to celebrate his latest album Ascenso (2022, Sono Luminus) and perform with the National Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2024, he celebrated the 100th birthday of Janos Starker in Korea and Japan.

Among his many accolades, Cañón-Valencia won Silver Medal at the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition; the 2018 Starker Foundation Award; Third Prize at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth International Competition; First Prize at the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition, Beijing International Music Competition, Gisborne International Music Competition and Lennox International Young Artists Competition; and major prizes at the Sphinx, Casals, Johansen, Cassadó and Adam Competitions.

Cañón-Valencia's solo career has taken him around the world to perform with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, SWR Symphonieorchester, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra and all of the major orchestras in Colombia.

Cañón-Valencia performed in the world premiere of Carlos Izcaray's cello concerto Stringmaster as soloist with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Colombian premiere of Ginastera's Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the world premiere of Jorge Pinzón's Cello Concerto "Rapsodia a los 4 Elementos" at the Cartagena International Music Festival and Friedrich Gulda's Cello Concerto with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra.

As a recording artist, Cañón-Valencia enjoys immersing himself in known and unknown works, particularly in commissioning new pieces, arranging and composing. Recordings include his debut release Solo, an album with pianist Andrea Lucchesini dedicated to Schubert and Beethoven for the Egea Label, an album of Russian cello sonatas and popular pieces of the cello repertoire with pianist Katherine Austin for the Atoll label and his latest recording, Ascenso, released in November 2022 on Sono Luminus.

Cañón-Valencia has been sponsored by the Mayra & Edmundo Esquenazi Scholarship through the Salvi Foundation since 2011.

Learn more at www.santiagocanonvalencia.com.

*Photo Credit: Artist Self-Portrait

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