Program for Rachel Breen
Sunday, August 21, 2022 at 4 pm
download a copy of this program here.
San Francisco International Piano Festival presents
Rachel Breen, piano
Program
John Bull (c. 1562–1628)
Fantasia on Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La
Alexander Scriabin (1871–1915)
Preludes, Op. 11, nos. 1, 2, 3, 22, 23, 21
Preludes, Op. 16, no. 4
Preludes, Op. 11, no. 14
Nikolai Medtner (1879–1951)
Sonata, Op. 22 in G minor
Intermission
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Arabeske, Op. 18
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
Arietta
The San Francisco International Piano Festival is supported, in part, by a grant from the Ross McKee Foundation, and is a recipient of InterMusic SF’s Musical Grant Program.
About the musician
Bay Area native Rachel Breen has been described as “an extraordinarily skilled pianist with a gift for memorization,” having “a beautiful piano sound and original detail.” She received her bachelor’s degree with academic honors from the Juilliard School, and her master’s degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with – respectively – Julian Martin and Boris Slutsky. Previously, she was a student of Dr. Sharon Mann at the San Francisco Conservatory; until age 10, she was self-taught. She is currently a Soloklasse artist at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik under Lars Vogt, and is based in both Europe and the United States.
Breen has won top prizes in the Beethoven International Competition in Vienna, the Georges Cziffra International Competition, the Livorno International Competition, the Gallinari International Competition, Premio Melini, the Spanish Composers International Competition and the NFMC Young Artists’ Competition among others, and received the 2021 Kurt Alten Prize from her university in Hannover. She is one of ten semifinalists in the upcoming Honens International Piano Competition.
Aside from piano, Breen earned first prize on the National Latin Exam and third prize on the National French Exam. She spends her spare time exploring philosophy and visual arts, as well as forgetting to answer important emails.