MN Beethoven Festival: Leonidas Kavakos, violin & Enrico Pace, piano

Dates

About

Leonidas Kavakos

Leonidas Kavakos is recognized across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality. Acclaimed for his captivating artistry, superb musicianship, matchless technique, and the integrity of his playing, Kavakos performs with the world’s leading orchestras as both soloist and conductor, and in recital at the world’s premier venues.

In 2022, Kavakos founded the ApollΩn Ensemble, a chamber group of elite Greek musicians who are in increasing demand internationally, and in 2025 he took over as Artistic Director of the Classic Revolution Festival at Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul.

Kavakos’s extensive and award-winning discography includes the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Riccardo Chailly (Decca), and the Beethoven Violin Concerto, which he also conducted with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Sony Classical). He was named ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year for his recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Enrico Pace. With Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma, Kavakos has released a series of trio recordings to the highest critical acclaim. With the ApollΩn Ensemble, he has recorded Bach’s Violin Concertos.

Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber music masterclass in Athens, where he was born and raised in a musical family. In 2022, he was elected by the Academy of Athens as a member of the Chair of Music in the Second Class of Letters and Fine Arts for his services to music. In 2024, he was appointed Professor of Violin at the Basel Academy of Music. Kavakos plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivari violin of 1734.

Learn More About Leonidas KavakosEnrico Pace

Enrico Pace was born in Rimini, Italy. He studied piano with Franco Scala both at the Rossini Conservatory, Pesaro, where he graduated in Conducting and Composition, and later at the Accademia Pianistica Incontri col Maestro, Imola. Jacques De Tiège was a valued mentor. Winning the Utrecht International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 1989 marked the beginning of his international career.

He has performed with many major orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia Rome, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Hungarian National Philharmonic, 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 Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, the G. Verdi Orchestra Milan, and the Filarmonica Toscanini Parma.

He has worked with conductors Daniele Gatti, Roberto Benzi, David Robertson, Andrey Boreyko, Mark Elder, Janos Fürst, Eliahu Inbal, Lawrence Foster, Kazimierz Kord, Jirí Kout, Gianandrea Noseda, Walter Weller, Carlo Rizzi, Jan Latham-Koenig, Vassily Sinaisky, Stanislav Skrowaczewski, Bruno Weil, and Antoni Wit.

Enrico Pace has toured extensively, performing in cities such as Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Milan (Sala Verdi and Teatro alla Scala), Rome, Berlin, London (Wigmore Hall), Dublin, Munich, Salzburg, Prague, and various cities in South America. He has performed at numerous festivals including La Roque-d’Anthéron, Verbier, Lucerne, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, and Husum.

Enrico Pace enjoys on-going partnerships with violinists Leonidas Kavakos and Liza Ferschtman, as well as with cellist Sung-Won Yang and clarinetist Sharon Kam, performing with them throughout Europe, the U.S., and Asia.

Other chamber music partners have included Frank Peter Zimmermann, Daniel MüllerSchott, Igor Roma, and Marie Luise Neunecker, as well as the Keller Quartet, the RTE Vanbrugh Quartet, and the Quartetto Prometeo. He regularly participates in chamber music festivals and has visited Delft, Moritzburg, Risør, Kuhmo, Montreux, Stresa, and West Cork.

Program

BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 4, Op. 23
STRAVINSKY: Divertimento for Violin & Piano
MOZART: Sonata, K. 304
FRANCK: Sonata