Skopje, 20 November 2023 (MIA) — Conducted by Conrad van Alphen from the Netherlands and featuring Dutch-English violinist Daniel Rowland and Serbian cellist Maja Bogdanovic as soloists, the Philharmonic will perform its 80th anniversary concert titled 'Inspiration' on Thursday.

According to the Philharmonic in a press release, the concert program includes the Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 for violin, cello and orchestra by Johannes Brahms, and the Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Described as a versatile, charismatic and adventurous performer with a wide ranging repertoire, Daniel Rowland has performed with orchestras from Tromso in the north of Norway to Cape Town; in concertos from Beethoven and Brahms to Elgar, Berg, Korngold, Weinberg, Prokoffief and Schnittke; and has worked with leading conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Jaap van Zweden, Francois Xavier Roth, Lawrence Foster, Anthony Hermus, Rossen Milanov and Andrey Boreiko.

As a chamber musician, Rowland has performed with artists as diverse as Ivry Gitlis, Heinz Holliger, Gilles Apap, Anna Fedorova, Alexander Lonquich, Nino Gvetadze, Michael Collins, Nicolas Daniel, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Lars Vogt, Alberto Mesirca, Willard White and Elvis Costello. He was for twelve years the leader of the Brodsky Quartet, performing all over the world.

In 2005, Rowland founded the Stift International Music Festival in the bucolic region of Twente in the eastern Netherlands, where he grew up. He was born in London, and started his violin lessons in Enschede after his parents moved to Twente in the eastern Netherlands. He teaches at the Royal College of Music in London.

His violin is by Lorenzo Storioni (Cremona 1796), and his bow is a Maline, loaned by the Dutch Instrument Foundation.

Rowland lives with Bogdanovic in Amsterdam with their daughter Lily.

Maja Bogdanovic's latest CD release, recorded with Rowland under the title ‘Pas de deux’ (Challenge Records), includes world premiere recordings of works by Penderecki, Vasks, Sollima and Nisinman, and was described as ‘a magical meeting of cello and violin’ by leading Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. She has released several other CDs for labels Lyrinx and Nimbus including her recital disc ‘Eastern wind’ (Orchid Classics), with pianist Maria Belooussova dedicated to Glière and Rachmaninoff as well as Krzysztof Penderecki’s Second Cello Concerto (DUX).

Her concerto engagements have included the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Tokyo Philharmonic, Minas Gerais Symphony, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Forth Worth Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Portland Symphony, Columbus Symphony and Princeton Symphony.

As a chamber musician, Bogdanovic has performed at leading chamber music festivals and venues such as Kuhmo Festival in Finland, Amsterdamse Cello Biënnale, Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, Folle Journée/Nantes, Storioni Festival, and the Stift International Chamber Music Festival in the Netherlands, performing with artists such as Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Julian Rachlin, Nino Gvetadze, Nemanja Radulovic and Marianna Schiriniyan. 

Born in Belgrade, Bogdanovic began playing the cello at a very early age, studying with Professor Nada Jovanovic in Zemun. She went on to graduate with a First Prize from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she completed her postgraduate course with Michel Strauss; while there, she also studied chamber music. Following her studies in Paris, she pursued further training at the Universität der Künste Berlin.

Her instrument was custom made for her by French luthier Frank Ravatin.

Conrad van Alphen is the founder, artistic director and chief conductor of the Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra.

He has led orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Bochumer Symphoniker, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Berliner Symphoniker, Russian National Orchestra, Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Bogota Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic Bucharest, Budapest Symphony Orchestra Mav, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu and others.

Under his leadership, the Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra has regularly been invited to perform at venues and festivals around Europe and intercontinentally tours to Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Chile, China and Russia.

Van Alphen was born and bred in South Africa. After moving to the Netherlands at the age of 26 he joined the double bass section of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Beethoven Academie Antwerp while continuing his conducting studies. mr/