Cellist Sung-Won Yang & Pianist Enrico Pace

Program Information

 

South Korean cellist Sung-Won Yang and Italian pianist Enrico Pace return to Halifax to open our new season with a program of works by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Brahms, Debussy, and Franck. The concert moves from the clear lines and dialogue of the Bach sonatas to the larger scale of Brahms’s Sonata in E minor, before turning to Debussy’s Sonata and Franck’s Sonata. Sung-Won Yang performs internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician and has appeared in major halls across Europe, North America, and Asia. Enrico Pace, a GRAMMY Award-nominated pianist and major prizewinner, is widely recognized for his concert and chamber music career.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
One of the sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788)
One of the sonatas for viola da gamba and keyboard

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Sonata No. 1 in E minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 38

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto quasi Menuetto
III. Allegro

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, L. 135

I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto
II. Sérénade: Modérément animé
III. Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux

César Franck (1822–1890)
Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano, FWV 8, arranged for cello and piano

I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato
IV. Allegretto poco mosso

Artist Biographies

 

Sung-Won Yang, cello

Sung-Won Yang is a cellist of rare depth and breadth, whose artistry brings together intellectual clarity, poetic intensity, and an unwavering belief in music as a vital human force. He has appeared on many of the world’s most revered stages, including the Salle Pleyel and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

A long-standing recording artist with Decca/Universal Music, his discography reflects both a profound engagement with the core repertoire and a curiosity that reaches beyond it. Recent releases include Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under Hans Graf (2024), and an Elgar album pairing the Cello Concerto with the Piano Quintet, released in 2025. His earlier recordings range from Bach and Beethoven to Brahms, Schumann, Messiaen, and Kodály — the latter earning both Gramophone Editor’s Choice and Critic’s Choice of the Year. In 2026, a recording of Haydn’s Cello Concertos with Thomas Zehetmair and the Orchestre National d’Auvergne Rhône‑Alpes will be released, continuing his exploration of classical clarity through a modern sensibility.

Chamber music lies at the heart of his musical life. He enjoys a long-standing partnership with pianist Enrico Pace, with whom he has recorded works by Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. He is also a founding member of Trio Owon, alongside violinist Olivier Charlier and pianist Emmanuel Strosser, an ensemble praised for its organic unity and stylistic breadth, with recordings spanning Schubert, Dvořák, Beethoven, Messiaen, Tchaikovsky, and Weinberg. His musical collaborations further include performances with artists such as Zdeněk Mácal, Miklós Perényi, Peter Eötvös, Myung‑Whun Chung, and Christoph Eschenbach.

Deeply engaged with the music of our time, Sung-Won Yang is a committed advocate for contemporary creation. He has commissioned and premiered works by composers including Peter Eötvös, Jee-Young Kim, Laurent Petitgirard, and Nicola Sani, and will soon premiere a new work dedicated to him and Enrico Pace by Eric Montalbetti. His interest in dialogue between music and history also led him, in 2016, to produce a documentary honoring young French priests martyred in 19th-century Korea — a project intertwining memory, faith, and cultural heritage.

Born in Korea, Sung-Won Yang studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and later served as assistant to the legendary János Starker at Indiana University. He is regularly invited to serve on juries for major international competitions, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Cassadó International Cello Competition, the André Navarra International Cello Competition, and the Osaka International Music Competition.

Alongside his performing career, he is deeply invested in shaping musical life through vision and mentorship. He serves as Artistic Director of the Music in PyeongChang in Korea and the Festival Beethoven de Beaune, where his programming seeks to connect heritage and innovation while fostering genuine dialogue between artists, audiences, and society. He is a Professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and a Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

A Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic and recipient of the Order of Cultural Merit from the Korean government, Sung-Won Yang remains guided by a conviction articulated by Victor Hugo: “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” Like Beethoven — a lifelong point of reference for him — he believes music speaks most powerfully where language reaches its limits.

Through his recordings, performances, festivals, and teaching, Sung-Won Yang continues to shape a musical path rooted in depth, transmission, and the quiet urgency of human expression.

 

Enrico Pace, piano

Born in Rimini, Enrico Pace studied with Franco Scala at the Pesaro Conservatory, where he also graduated in composition and conducting. He furthered his studies at the International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola, and his invaluable mentor thereafter was Belgian teacher Jacques de Tiège.

After winning first prize at the Franz Liszt International Competition in Utrecht in 1989, Enrico Pace has performed all over the world: Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro alla Scala and Sala Verdi in Milan, Rome, Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, Dublin, Herkulessaal in Munich, Prague, Philharmonie in Berlin and various cities in South America. He has been invited to play at numerous international festivals, including Lucerne, Salzburg, Edinburgh, La Roque d’Anthéron, Rheingau, Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Husum and the Brescia and Bergamo Piano Festivals.

Highly regarded as a soloist, he performs with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the Munich Philharmonic, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (RFO), the Netherlands Philharmonic the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Göteborg, London and Stavanger Symphony Orchestras, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, the Rheinische Philharmonie, the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, the Camerata Salzburg, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the G. Verdi of Milan and the Filarmonica Toscanini of Parma.

Enrico Pace has collaborated with numerous conductors including Roberto Benzi, Gianandrea Noseda, Zoltan Kocsis, Kazimierz Kord, Mark Elder, Lawrence Foster, Vassily Sinaisky, Stanislav Skrowaczewski, Bruno Weil, Andrey Boreyko, Eliahu Inbal, Carlo Rizzi, Jan Latham-Koenig, Walter Weller and Antoni Wit.

Enrico Pace has also collaborated with such violinists as Leonidas Kavakos, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Akiko Suwanai, and Liza Ferschtman, and with cellist Sung-Won Yang, performing with them in Europe, the USA, and Asia.

Other partners in the field of chamber music include not only cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, clarinetist Sharon Kam, pianist Igor Roma and cornetist Marie Luise Neunecker, but also the Keller Quartet, RTE Vanbrugh Quartet and the Prometheus Quartet. A regular guest at chamber festivals, he has visited Delft, Moritzburg, Risør, Kuhmo, Montreux, Stresa and West Cork.

Past highlights include the Beethoven Sonatas cycle, with Leonidas Kavakos, in New York (Carnegie Hall), Athens, Florence, Milan, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo, at the Salzburg Festival and Beethovenfest Bonn, as well as other performances in the United States, Europe and China. He has also performed Bach Sonatas with Frank Peter Zimmermann in New York, Amsterdam, Zurich, Frankfurt, Bamberg and Japan. With Matthias Goerne he brought Schubert’s Schwanengesang to La Scala in Milan. In Zurich, Frankfurt and Cologne he played with violist Antoine Tamestit, in Japan and at London’s Wigmore Hall with Akiko Suwanai, and in Korea and Japan with cellist Sung-Won Yang. As a soloist he has performed in such halls as the Concergebouw in Amsterdam and the Herkulessaal in Munich.

With Leonidas Kavakos and cellist Patrick Demenga he recorded Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios (Sony Classical). His recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for piano and violin with Leonidas Kavakos was released by Decca Classics in January 2013 and was nominated for a Grammy Award. In April 2016 Decca Classics released a CD in which the duo performs virtuosic pieces. With Frank-Peter Zimmermann he recorded Busoni’s Sonata No. 2 and J.S. Bach’s Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano 1014-1019 for Sony Classical. In 2011 the Piano Classics label released his well-known recording of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage “Suisse” and “Italie.”

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How will I receive my tickets?
Electronic tickets are emailed immediately after purchase to the email address used at checkout. Please keep your tickets handy on your smart phone or bring a printed copy with you to the concert so we can scan them at the door. If you do not receive your tickets, please check your spam or junk folder, as ticket emails are sometimes blocked or filtered by email providers. You may also wish to search your inbox for “Cecilia Concerts” or your order confirmation. If you still cannot find your tickets, please contact the Cecilia Concerts office before the concert and we’ll be happy to help. Rest assured, if you purchased tickets, your name will also be on our guest list at the door.

What time should I arrive?
Doors open at 7:00pm, and the concert begins at 7:30pm. We recommend arriving a little early so you have time to have your ticket scanned, find a seat, and get settled before the performance begins.

Can I arrive late?
Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate break in the performance, when possible. To avoid disruption to the artists and audience, we recommend arriving before the concert begins.

How long is the concert?
The approximate running time is 1 hour and 55 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.

What is the seating like?
Tickets are general admission. The Stage at St. Andrew’s has unassigned seating, with chairs on the main floor and pews in the balcony. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Bravo Premium subscription holders have reserved access to seating within the first five rows. Please note that the balcony is accessible by stairs only. Wheelchair-accessible seating and companion seating are available on the main floor. If you have an accessibility-related seating need, please let us know when you arrive.

Are children welcome?
Yes, children are always welcome. Please keep in mind that this is a full-length concert in a traditional concert setting. Families may wish to choose seats close to a door in case a quick exit is needed during the performance.

What should I know about concert etiquette?
If you are new to classical concerts, you are very welcome. We simply ask that audience members help create a quiet and respectful environment for the artists and those around them. Please silence your phone before the concert begins, avoid talking during the performance, and wait for pauses between pieces to move around when possible.

When should I clap?
It is always fine to clap when a full piece has ended. Some longer works have several movements, with short pauses in between, and audiences usually wait until the entire work is finished before applauding. If you are unsure, it is perfectly okay to wait and follow the rest of the audience.

Can I use my phone during the concert?
Please silence your phone before the concert begins. We ask that phones and bright screens not be used during the performance, as they can be distracting to artists and audience members.

Can I take photos or videos?
Photos are welcome before or after the concert. Unless otherwise announced, photography, audio recording, and video recording are not permitted during the performance.

What accessibility features are available?
The Stage at St. Andrews is wheelchair accessible and includes accessible washrooms with ramp access. Companion seating is available if required. If you have a specific accessibility question before attending, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Is the venue scent-sensitive?
To help make the concert comfortable for everyone, we ask guests to avoid wearing strong scents or fragrances.

Is there parking or public transit nearby?
The Stage at St. Andrews is located on the corner of Robie Street and Coburg Road. There is no parkade at the venue, but street parking is available in the surrounding area. The venue is also located near major South End Halifax Transit routes.

What happens if there is a storm?
If a storm may affect a performance, ticket holders are encouraged to call the Cecilia Concerts office at 902-423-0143 for a recorded concert update. Updates will also be posted on the Cecilia Concerts website and social media channels.

What happens if a concert is changed, postponed, or cancelled?
Concert schedule changes are very rare, but storms or other unexpected circumstances may occasionally require us to make adjustments. If a concert is changed, postponed, or cancelled, ticket holders will be contacted as soon as possible with available options. Depending on the circumstances, you may choose to attend the rescheduled concert, receive a credit toward a future Cecilia Concerts performance, request a refund, or convert the value of your ticket into a charitable donation tax receipt.