Calvin Abdiel
Calvin Abdiel is the winner of the 2021 George Frederick Boyle Third Prize of the internationally renowned Sydney International Piano Competition (The Sydney). The first Australian to reach the grand finale of the competition in almost 20 years, Calvin astounded audiences, who tuned in virtually across Australia and the world, to watch this incredible young pianist in full competitive flight in July 2021.
The Sydney is thrilled to present Calvin’s debut tour this coming March and April 2022, providing a unique opportunity for audiences in NSW, VIC and ACT to enjoy this prodigious young artist on the cusp of a glistening career.
The tour will include performances at Verbrugghen Hall Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Grafton, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Gosford. More information and ticket release dates will be added here in due course.
More about Calvin…
The youngest competitor of the 2021 competition at just 20 years old and competing against 31 other international musicians, Calvin won through the stages of the competition with expertise and skill beyond his years. The international jury also awarded Calvin Abdiel with the Nancy Weir Best Australian Pianist prize and the prize of an overseas scholarship for an Australian competitor to further their musical career. Following the announcement of Calvin’s win, The Australian’s, Matthew Westwood described the young Australian/Indonesian pianist ‘Piano Man’ and wrote about his extraordinary ‘pianistic authority.’
Calvin made his orchestral debut in 2017 with the St Petersburg State Capella Symphony Orchestra and subsequent performances with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Swiss orchestra, Les Chambristes. He has also performed in Indonesia, Germany, Denmark and Israel. He has been broadcast by ABC Classic FM and Fine Music Sydney.
Calvin studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music undertaking his Honours Degree with current teacher Natalia Ricci. He has received masterclasses from such acclaimed pianists such as Angela Hewitt, Orli Shaham, Justas Dvarionas and Jahja Ling.
Upcoming Concerts
Buy TicketsProgram
Two rich and illustrious programs will feature during Calvin Abdiel’s tour including Enrique Granados, Liszt, Mozart, Schumann, Haydn and Ravel.
Program 1
Maurice Ravel
Miroirs
Claude Debussy
Les Collines d’Anacapri from Preludes Book 1
Feux D’artifice from Preludes Book 2
from 12 Etudes, L. 136
Etude no. 5 ‘Pour les Octaves’
Enrique Granados
El Pelele (the Straw Man)
from Goyescas
El Fandango de Candil (Fandango by Candlelight)
Quejas, o La Maja y el Ruisenor (Lament, or the Maiden and the Nightingale)
Franz Liszt
from ‘Years of Pilgrimage, First Year: Switzerland’
Au bord d’une source
Franz Liszt/Wolfgang A. Mozart
Réminiscences de Don Juan (S. 418)
Program 2
Johann Sebastian Bach/Ferruccio Busoni
from 10 Chorale Preludes
In Dir ist Freude
Ich Ruf zu Dir
Joseph Haydn
Sonata in A major Hob.XVI:30
Robert Schumann
Symphonic Etudes Op. 13
Enrique Granados
El Pelele (the Straw Man)
from Goyescas
El Fandango de Candil (Fandango by Candlelight)
Quejas, o La Maja y el Ruisenor (Lament, or the Maiden and the Nightingale)
Franz Liszt
from ‘Years of Pilgrimage, First Year: Switzerland’
Au bord d’une source
Franz Liszt/Wolfgang A. Mozart
Réminiscences de Don Juan (S. 418)
The Sydney adheres to COVID safe policy as determined by the Australian Government and the NSW Government.