“Road Trip! A Pan Canadian Tour” Kicking Off in Atlantic Canada with La Fiammata
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2023
“Road Trip! A Pan Canadian Tour” Kicking Off in Atlantic Canada with La Fiammata
K’JIUPUKTUK/HALIFAX, NS – La Fiammata Piano Duo, a vibrant Canadian duo formed by pianists Linda Ruan and Charissa Vandikas, share an intense passion for innovative programming and fearless music-making. Praised for their “dizzying musicality” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), La Fiammata are about to embark on the year-long Pan-Canadian tour, a partnership between Debut Atlantic, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Prairie Debut. The duo will launch this exciting initiative in Atlantic Canada for Debut Atlantic with seven concerts, including five concerts in Nova Scotia, one in New Brunswick, and one on Prince Edward Island. From September 9-24, 2023, the duo will enthrall audiences with a program titled “Love Letters for Humanity,” a musical love letter to Canada, that cleverly pairs Beethoven to Corigliano, and Canadian favourites Elizabeth Raum, Gary Kulesha, and Alice Ping Yee Ho.
The tour will include a new commission by Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy. A joint commission for the Pan-Canadian partnerships, Atlantic Canadian audiences will be the first to enjoy this exciting work titled Prima-Goodman Fantasy.
Debut Atlantic is thrilled to present high-calibre artists to audiences across Atlantic Canada. La Fiammata will begin their tour at Cecilia’s Retreat in Mahone Bay, NS on Saturday, September 9th, where they will perform with Musique Royale at 11:00am. Next, they head over to Indian River, PE, where they will appear at Under the Spire Music Festival on Sunday, September 10th for a 3:00pm performance. Afterwards, they are traveling to Wolfville, NS, where they will appear with Sunday Music in the Garden Room on Sunday, September 17th at 2:00pm. La Fiammata then travels to Bertrand, NB on Tuesday, September 19th, where they will perform with Musique Saint-Joachim at 7:00pm. On Thursday, September 21st at 7:30pm, they will appear at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Pictou, NS as part of the deCoste Centre for Art& Creativity’s “On the Road” series. La Fiammata then travels to Antigonish, NS to perform at the Antigonish Performing Arts Series on Saturday, September 23rd at 7:30pm. La Fiammata finishes their Debut Atlantic tour on Sunday, September 24th at 3:00 pm, where they will appear with Music at Trinity in Amherst, NS.
In addition to concert engagements, La Fiammata will be working with young students through the Debut Goes to School! program. This season, Debut Goes to School offers students throughout Atlantic Canada in-person access to outstanding classical and global music artists. Through this program, students are provided the opportunity to participate in live, interactive learning sessions and other events for various age groups and levels of ability.
Debut Atlantic wants to recognize the partners and sponsors that come together to bring these incredible artists to communities and venues of all sizes across our region. It would not be possible without the generous support of sustaining partners, including the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, and the Province of New Brunswick. Debut would also like to thank its educational partner, the Nova Scotia Department of Education; and its season partners, including the Halifax Regional Municipality, The Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, Support4Culture, the Craig Foundation, Pink Larkin, Halcraft Printers, Strategic Arts Management, and InnVest Hotels (Comfort Inn).
Please see the enclosed list of concert dates and artist biography, and come share in a unique performance, rich with passion and exploration.
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As one of Canada’s most prestigious classical music organizations, Debut Atlantic is committed to developing young artists and establishing new initiatives that enhance the cultural life of Atlantic Canada. Since 1979 it has treated Atlantic audiences to Canada’s most promising young musicians. Celebrating 43 years, Debut Atlantic has featured over 400 artists, gracing the stages of venues from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Full details on Debut Atlantic’s concert seasons and educational programs can be found at www.debutatlantic.ca.
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For further information, please contact:
Erin Sparks – Executive Director
Debut Atlantic
902-429-6812
erin@debutatlantic.ca
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Elizabeth Upson Perez – Program Officer
Debut Atlantic
902-429-6812
elizabeth@debutatlantic.ca
TOUR SCHEDULE—LA FIAMMATA
Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
11:00am, September 9, 2023
Musique Royale
Cecilia’s Retreat
1199 Oakland Rd. RR#2
musiqueroyale.com
Indian River, PE
3:00pm, September 10, 2023
Under the Spire Music Festival
Historic St. Mary’s
902-836-3733
underthespire.ca
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
2:00pm, September 17, 2023
Sunday Music in the Garden Room
KC Irving Environmental Science Centre
Acadia University
artsacadia.acadiau.ca/Sunday_Music_in_the_Garden_Room.html
Bertrand, New Brunswick
7:00pm, September 19, 2023
Musique Saint-Joachim
Église St-Joachim
650 Boulevard des Acadiens
musiquestjoachim.com
Pictou, Nova Scotia
7:30pm, September 21, 2023
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
deCoste Performing Centre for Arts & Creativity
1-800-353-5338
decostecentre.ca
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
7:30pm, September 23, 2023
Antigonish Performing Arts Series
Immaculata Hall, St. F.X. University
2360 Notre Dame Ave.
902-867-3909
people.stfx.ca/msteinit/schedule.htm
Amherst, Nova Scotia
3:00pm, September 24, 2023
Music at Trinity
St. Stephen’s United Church
902-667-8483
BIOGRAPHY—La Fiammata
Praised for their “dizzying musicality” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Canadian piano duo La Fiammata are the Second Prize winners, the Henle Urtext Prize winners and the youngest piano duo finalists of the 70th ARD International Music Competition. Since their formation in 2015, La Fiammata has quickly emerged as one of the most promising young duos in the world, garnering top prizes at the 2021 Lancaster International Chamber Music Competition, the 2019 Suzana Szörenyi International Piano Duo Competition, and at the 2018 Northwest International Piano Ensemble Competition. As the Grand Prix Winners of the Canadian Music Competition, La Fiammata made its orchestral debut with Orchestre de la Francophonie and conductor Nicolas Ellis in 2017. Since then, they’ve worked with conductors Johannes Debus, Matthias Foremny, and Radoslaw Szulc, performing with orchestras in Europe and North America. These include the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra.
La Fiammata have been featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s In Concert, where radio host Paolo Pietropaolo attested that “[one] can practically hear the electricity crackling between [the two pianists].” They have also been featured on BR24 Rundschau (Bavarian Radio), Art Channel Romania, and EnjoyTV Romania. The duo was named the RBC Stockey Young Artists at the Festival of the Sound and the Youth Ambassadors for the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Music Competition.
La Fiammata are eager to explore the potential of the piano duo instrumentation while supporting the Canadian voices of their generation. In May of 2019, they won a commission sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council and premiered “density swells upclose in breath” by Canadian composer Julia Mermelstein. They’re honoured to have given among the first performances of works for two pianos and four hands by Vassos Nicolaou, Sebastian Androne, and Stefan Young.
The duo was formed in Toronto where they were both full scholarship students of The Glenn Gould School. During this time, they primarily worked with James Anagnoson of the renowned Anagnoson-Kinton Duo. They have also received coachings from Anagnoson-Kinton Duo, Emanuel Ax, Hung-Kuan Chen, John O’Conor, and Jean Saulnier. Currently, Ms. Ruan studies at the Tianjin Juilliard School with Dr. Xiaohan Wang and Ms. Vandikas at the University of Montréal with Charles Richard-Hamelin and Henry Kramer.