Katharina Wolpe

Beethoven
Sonata in E, Op 109

Stefan WolpeSong 1941
A Piece of Embittered Music 1941
Form 1951

Schubert
Impromptu in B flat,D 935
Impromptu in E flat D 899

In a special late addition to this year’s lunchtime programme we are delighted to welcome pianist Katharina Wolpe.

Katharina did not have the typical upbringing of most classical pianists, she doesn’t remember learning to play or read music and has never had a normal musical education or the opportunity to go to music school. Born in Vienna and separated from her parents at the age of six, Katharina grew up in a series of refugee camps and foster homes. After several years traveling country to country she was eventually allowed to remain in England. Here gradually her talent began to be noticed and she became a soloist with all the great London orchestras, the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, English Chamber Orchestra among others. This concert includes classic pieces from Beethoven and Schubert plus a selection by Katharina’s father the avant-garde Austrian composer Stefan Wolpe

This concert will be introduced by Vanessa Redgrave with whom Katharina has appeared many times in aid of UNICEF in places as diverse as Paris, Liubliana, London and Kosovo.