Chemainus Classical Concerts presents From Spanish to Pastiche featuring Andrei Burdeti, guitar and Jannie Burdeti, piano, on Sunday Nov. 17, starting at 2 p.m. at St. Michael’s Church in Chemainus.
This husband and wife team combine their talents to provide a special afternoon, taking their cues for all over the musical map.
Born in Suceava, Romania, Andrei Burdeti left at an early age with his family to relocate in Canada. He says in his biography that his “captivation with the classical guitar” began at the age of 16 when he heard its sounds for the first time on recordings.
Formal musical studies began in Montreal, but by 2010, he left to continue his training at the Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where he studied with Ray Chester and Manuel Barrueco, earning his Doctor of Musical Arts in 2016. In addition, Burdeti received influential coachings from world-class guitarists such as Rémi Boucher, Olivier Chassain, William Kanengiser and Scott Tenant, to name a few.
Burdeti says he “holds a special affinity with the guitar music of Canadian composer, Jacques Hétu” investigating the complete organic processes at work in Hétu’s guitar music as part of his doctoral thesis. The musician performs regularly in solo concerts throughout North America and Europe. As a former member of the McGill Guitar Quartet, he has performed, directed, and written his own arrangements. Since 2014, he also performs in the Burdeti Duo.
Pianist Jannie Sing-Yen Burdeti made her New York debut at the age of 14, appearing in the Young Virtuosos Gala Concert in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Since then, she has performed as a soloist with orchestras and at festivals in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Austria, Holland, and Italy. Also an accomplished chamber musician, she has collaborated with luminaries such as Roberto Diaz, Norman Fischer, Paul Hersh, Axel Srauss, Joseph Swensen, and the Calder Quartet.
Her repertoire not only spans the traditional masterworks of the piano literature but also includes compositions by contemporary composers whose music speaks to audiences of all ages. In recent seasons, she has presented recitals in diverse halls such as the Ruïnekerk in Bergen, Holland, the Telekom Headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and the Steifel Theater in Salinas, Kansas.
The pianist was a recipient of the DAAD German Exchange Grant for research on European Contemporary Music, which funded a year of study in Freiburg, Germany. She has additionally received awards from the Wideman International Piano Competition, King Award for Young Artists, the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition, and the Pacific Musical Society, to name a few.
She earned graduate degrees from the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany and from the San Francisco Conservatory. She is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Peabody Conservatory, where she is a protégé of international artist Boris Slutsky.
They will immerse their listeners in the rich tradition of guitar music by composers Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Boccherini, and Rodrigo. In the second half, the performers showcase their skill as arrangers in transcriptions of works by Holst (The Planets), Debussy (Petite Suite) and Enescu (Romanian Rhapsody).
Tickets are $20 At the door, $10 for music lovers under 18.