September 27, 2023
7:30 p.m.
This prodigy is the first-prize winner of The Gina Bachauer Junior Competition, and the Silver Medalist in the Gina Bachauer International Artist Competition. Hailed by the New York Times as a pianist “whose playing combines clarity, elegance, and abundant technique,” and by the Washington Post as a young artist with “boundless potential” who can “already hold his own with the best,” pianist Aristo Sham has dazzled audiences on five continents.
This performance is suitable for ages six and up.
Sehr rasch, mit leidenschaftlichem Vortrag
Ziemlich langsam
Kräftig und sehr markiert
Sonata No. 21 in C Major "Waldstein", op. 53
Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegro con brio
Introduzione: Adagio molto
Rondo: Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo
Suite Floral, W117
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Idílio na rede (Idyll on the Net)
Uma camponesa cantadeira (A Peasant Singer)
Alegria na horta (Joy in the Garden)
Jasmine Flower Fantasia
Chu Wanghua
Gaspard de la nuit
Maurice Ravel
Ondine
Le gibet
Scarbo
As we prepare to welcome the community to experience the wonder at The Noorda, I’d like to thank you for making it all possible.
The performing arts inspire us to engage with others, discover new ways of thinking and feeling, and provides us with hope—in short, we believe the arts transform you. As an exciting hub for the arts in Utah County, we produce hundreds of performances by talented students, faculty, and world-renowned visiting artists. We invite everyone to join in connecting through the arts.
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Hailed by the Washington Post as a young artist with “boundless potential” who can “already hold his own with the best,” pianist Aristo Sham has dazzled audiences on five continents in countries ranging from Singapore and Argentina to Slovenia, Morocco, and throughout the United States.
Mr. Sham has performed as soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart, the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, the English Chamber Orchestra under Raymond Leppard, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. In addition, he has given recitals for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago and the Salle Cortot in Paris, and performed for royalty and dignitaries such as Prince Charles, the Queen of Belgium, and ex-President Hu of China.
During the 22-23 season, Young Concert Artists will present Aristo in his Washington, DC debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, as the First Prize winner of the 2018 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. He will perform solo and chamber music recitals with Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Series, Harvard Musical Association, the Morgan Library, and the Miami International Piano Festival. He will appear as concerto soloist in Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto with the Gulf Coast Symphony (Gulfport, MS).
He also won First Prize at the 2019 Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy, the Silver Medal at the 2018 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, First Prize at the 2018 Charles Wadsworth International Piano Competition, First Prize and the Barenreiter Urtext Special Prize at Germany’s Ettlingen International Piano Competition, First Prize at the New York International Piano Competition, and top prizes at the Viseu (Portugal), Wideman, PianoArts, Clara Haskil, Saint-Priest and Viotti Piano Competitions, as well as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Last season, he appeared at the Festivals of Tippet Rise, Bravo! Vail, Glafsfjordens (Sweden), and the International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdroj, Poland.
A native of Hong Kong, Aristo completed a joint program of Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. Harvard granted him a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in French in 2019,and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory in 2020. He currently resides in Sweden, where he serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Ingesund School of Music. Mr Sham has also attended the Harrow School in the United Kingdom and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. In his free time, Mr. Sham enjoys traveling, languages, gastronomy, and oenology.
Utah Valley University acknowledges that we gather on land sacred to all Indigenous people who came before us in this vast crossroads region. The University is committed to working in partnership—as enacted through education and community activities—with Utah’s Native Nations comprising: the San Juan Southern Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Uintah & Ouray Reservation of the Northern Ute, Skull Valley Goshute, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute-White Mesa Community, and urban Indian communities. We recognize these Native Nations and their continued connections with traditional homelands, mountains, rivers, and lakes as well as their sovereign relationships with state and federal governments. We honor their collective memory and continued physical and spiritual presence. We revere their resilience and example in preserving their connections to the Creator and to all their relations, now and in the future.
With this statement comes responsibility and accountability. We resolve to follow
up with actionable items to make the School of the Arts at UVU and The Noorda Center
for the Performing Arts an inclusive, equitable, and just space for all. There is
much work to be done, and we are committed to putting these words into practice.
Artwork by Shane Walking Eagle (Sisseton Dakota).
Our mission is to produce and present artistic excellence, which would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. We thank them and express our deep gratitude to all patrons, supporters, and friends of The Noorda.
The arts possess the unparalleled power to inspire, educate, liberate, and transform. They elevate moments, mark milestones, soften edges, and generate profound meaning. Experience the beauty and wonder of the arts with us this season at The Noorda and begin at once to live!
Courtney R. Davis, J.D., M.A.
Dean, School of the Arts
