Petronel Malan

Last updated

Petronel Malan, born in Pretoria, South Africa is a South African concert pianist based in the United States.

Contents

Triple Grammy-nominated South African pianist Petronel Malan is an exclusive recording artist for the internationally recognized label Hänssler Classic based in Germany. Her debut disc Transfigured Bach: The Complete Bach Transcriptions of Bartok, Lipatti and Ignaz Friedman, was nominated for three Grammy awards, including "Best Instrumental Solo Album." The album was on the Top-10 list for Classic FM for over 30 weeks and was met with critical and audience appeal alike. Her second recording in the series "Transfigured Mozart," was released in 2006 during a 15-concert tour of South Africa, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. "Transfigured Beethoven" was released in 2008. "Transfigured Tchaikovsky" (2012) included the lieder transcriptions of Isaac Mikhnovsky. In 2015, she released "Transfigured Brahms" which included world premiere transcriptions by American composer Lowell Liebermann. As a Blüthner Artist she uses the pianos exclusively for her recordings.

Background

Born in South Africa, of 1688 French Huguenot descent, she started piano lessons with her mother, an opera singer, at age four. Considered the "last prodigy" of the late South African pedagogue Adolph Hallis, she debuted with the Johannesburg Symphony at the age of ten. Malan won her first national gold medal at age twelve (ATKV Prelude Competitions) and her first international gold at age fourteen at the Third International Piano Competition in Marsala, Sicily. After winning every competition she was eligible to enter in South Africa, she emerged as the top South African pianist of her generation when she became the youngest person ever to win the coveted SABC Music Prize Competition. She relocated to the United States to pursue her career.

Career

She continued her studies under Joseph Stanford, Steven De Groote, Ralph Votapek and Earl Wild. Petronel completed both her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of North Texas College of Music, studying with Joseph Banowetz.

Following her European debut in Rome in 1988, she has continued to make orchestral, recital and chamber music appearances on four continents. Highlights include prestigious venues such as Carnegie Recital Hall, Salle Cortot and Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris), Mozarteum (Salzburg), Liszt Museum (Budapest), Kravis Center (West Palm Beach), Orchestra Hall (Chicago) and Bass Hall (Fort Worth) and venues in St. Petersburg, Russia. Festival appearances include the Gilmore Piano Festival, Jasper Music Festival, Great Romantics Festival, Ravinia Festival, Levočské Babie Leto festival (Slovakia), and Music in the Mountains Festival in Colorado. She has worked with conductors like Vasily Petrenko, Bernhard Gueller, Karina Canellakis, Daniel Boico, Dmitry Manilov, Omri Hadari, Yashima Takeda, Bernhard Gueller and Fuzao Kajima. Broadcasts for television, radio and the web include live performances in Europe, Canada, across the US (also on NPR) and several documentary television-profiles in South Africa.

She maintains a full performing schedule across the world as a recitalist, orchestral soloist and chamber musician. She frequently judges piano competitions, conducts master classes and presents lectures across the United States and South Africa.

Awards

In 2000, four gold medals were awarded to her at the Louise McMahon International Music Competition, the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Los Angeles Liszt Competition "Budapest Concert." She was also a grand prizewinner in the 2000 Web Concert Hall Competition and gold medalist in the Young Texas Artist Competition and the Grace Welsh Piano Prize, to name but a few.

In 2003, she was awarded the national "Rapport/City Press Prestige Award" as one of the "10 Most Inspirational Women Achievers" in South Africa.

In 2006, she received the Kanna Award for her sold-out performances at the KKNK Oudtshoorn. The Kannas are also called the "Karoo Oscars."

In 2012 she received the Young Alumni Award from the University of North Texas. [1]

In 2013 she was awarded The American Prize for her recording "Transfigured Tchaikovsky."

In 2014 KykNet Fiesta Award. Given to the best live performance at a national arts festival; Category: Classical Music. [2] [3]

Recordings on Blüthner

Ms. Malan is a Blüthner Concert Artist, and uses these instruments exclusively for her recordings. She owns several pianos, including a concert size Blüthner.

General

An icon in the South African music world, scholarships are donated in Malan's name. Petronel has graced magazine covers, appeared as a picture-clue in crossword puzzles and make regular charity appearances when in South Africa. Apart from a love for vintage gowns, her stage wardrobe is designed by foremost South African designers. A supporter of classical music in schools, she finds time in her touring schedule to visit schools and speak to students about classical music.

Her sister is famous actress and business woman, Annie Malan.

Petronel lives in the United States.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Argerich</span> Argentine pianist (born 1941)

Martha Argerich is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won several competitions, including the VII International Chopin Piano Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni Competition and has since recorded numerous albums and performed with leading orchestras worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">İdil Biret</span> Turkish concert pianist

İdil Biret is a Turkish concert pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Howard (musician)</span> Musical artist

Leslie John Howard is an Australian pianist, musicologist and composer. He is best known for being the only pianist to have recorded the complete solo piano works of Franz Liszt, a project which included more than 300 premiere recordings. He has been described by The Guardian as "a master of a tradition of pianism in serious danger of dying out".

Yeol Eum Son is a world renowned South Korean classical pianist. She is an interpreter of the Classical era of composers, especially Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, as well as such later composers as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Over the past fifteen years, Son has achieved global acclaim for her performances of Mozart’s piano concertos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Matsuev</span> Musical artist

Denis Leonidovich Matsuev is a Russian pianist. Primarily a classical pianist, he also performs jazz occasionally.

Konstantin Scherbakov is a Russian-Swiss pianist. He was the winner of the first Rachmaninoff piano competition in 1983 in Moscow. In 1990, he played four solo recitals at the Chamber Music Festival of Asolo; this launched his international career.

James Tocco is an American concert pianist. He is the youngest of thirteen children born to Vincenzo and Rose Tocco, both Sicilian immigrants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Cheung</span>

Rachel Wai-Ching Cheung is a classical pianist from Hong Kong. She has won numerous prizes and awards in Hong Kong and overseas, and performs regularly in Asia, Europe, and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mūza Rubackytė</span> Lithuanian pianist (born 1959)

Mūza Rubackytė is a Lithuanian pianist, currently residing in Vilnius, Paris and Geneva. Rubackytė has been awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Lithuanian Muzes, and has been named as the National Artist of Lithuania.

Joseph Murray Banowetz was an American pianist, pedagogue, author, and editor, who taught at the University of North Texas. Banowetz was an expert on the music of the Russian romantic composer Anton Rubinstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoonjung Han</span>

Yoonjung "Yoonie" Han is a South Korean-born American classical pianist.

Éliane Reyes is a Belgian pianist who is known both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She is also currently Professor of Piano at both the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles and the Conservatoire de Paris. In 2016, she was designated a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, by the French government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisso Bolkvadze</span> Georgian musician (born 1967)

Elisso Bolkvadze or Eliso Bolkvadze is a Georgian classical pianist born in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Ching-Yun "Charlotte" Hu is a Taiwanese-born American classical pianist. She won the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and the 2012 Golden Melody Award for Best Classical Album. She founded Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival in Taipei.

Soyeon Kate Lee (이소연) is a Korean-American classical pianist, who currently lives in New York, US. She is on the College and Pre-College piano faculty at the Juilliard School.

Rhondda Gillespie was an Australian-born classical pianist who resided primarily in the United Kingdom and Barbados. She was a specialist in the music of Franz Liszt and brought to light many of his lesser-known works. She was also renowned for her focus on contemporary music, and she gave many world premieres of British music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Márta Kurtág</span> Hungarian pianist and teacher (1927–2019)

Márta Kurtág was a Hungarian classical pianist and academic piano teacher. She was the wife of György Kurtág, with whom she performed for 60 years, including at international festivals. They often played from his collection Játékok, which they also recorded together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luiza Borac</span> Romanian pianist

Luiza Borac is a Romanian classical pianist.

Zlata Yuryevna Chochieva, is a Russian pianist of Ossetian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophia Agranovich</span> Musical artist

Sophia Agranovich is a Ukrainian-born American classical concert pianist, recording artist, music educator and artistic director. She holds Bachelor and Master degrees from the Juilliard School, where she taught piano as a teaching fellow. She continued her doctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her live performances and discography have won top international awards and critical acclaim. Her albums are charting in top 10 across all musical genres on One World Music Radio and on World Top Radio Airplay Charts. A Steinway Artist, she is concertizing at major venues worldwide, and has been described by Fanfare Magazine as "a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics" and praised by the American Record Guide for her "magnificent shading and superior musicianship."

References

  1. "Alumni Awards 2012 | North Texan".
  2. "Plaaslike sterre blink uit by die Fiëstas - Kyknet". kyknet.dstv.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. "Fiestas 2014 Genomineerdes - Kyknet". kyknet.dstv.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2022.