Jonathan Swensen & Juho Pohjonen
Thu, Apr 15, 2027, 7:30 pm
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio at CMS
1 hour 45 minutes, including intermission
The timeless art of the recital lives on thanks to present-day virtuosos. Experience the musical journeys curated by this season's thrilling performers.
Program
Witold Lutosławski
(1913-1994)Grave: Metamorphoses for Cello and Piano
(1981)Gabriel Fauré
(1845–1924)Sicilienne for Cello and Piano, Op. 78
(1898)Arvo Pärt
(b. 1985)Fratres for Cello and Piano
(1977, arr. 1989)Francis Poulenc
(1899–1963)Sonata for Cello and Piano
(1940–48)Gabriel Fauré
(1845–1924)Élégie for Cello and Piano, Op. 24
(1880)Frédéric Chopin
(1810–1849)Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 65
(1845–46)Jonathan Swensen
Juho Pohjonen
Cellist Jonathan Swensen is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and joint first prize of the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and was featured as “One to Watch” in Gramophone. He made his concerto debut performing the Elgar Concerto with Portugal’s Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, and has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, Greenville Symphony, and the Aarhus, Odense, and Iceland symphonies. He has captured first prizes at the Windsor International String Competition, Khachaturian International Cello Competition, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. A graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Swensen continued his studies with Torleif Thedéen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and Laurence Lesser at New England Conservatory, where he received his Artist Diploma. He is now an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel working with Gary Hoffman, and a member of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Pianist Juho Pohjonen is in demand internationally as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber performer. An ardent exponent of Scandinavian music, he has a growing discography offering music by Finnish compatriots such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho, and Jean Sibelius. Recent engagements include the Taiwan, BBC, and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras; and the symphonies of San Francisco, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Colorado. Pohjonen is an alum of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program and enjoys an ongoing relationship with the organization. Pohjonen earned a master’s degree from Meri Louhos and Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He was selected by Sir András Schiff as the winner of the 2009 Klavier Festival Ruhr Scholarship. In 2019, Pohjonen launched MyPianist, an AI-based app that provides interactive piano accompaniment.