November 20th 2004 Professional Concert
Piano Duo
Joseph Tong ~ Waka Hasegawa
photo

This piano duet partnership (link) was formed in 1997 at the Royal Academy. They were prizewinners at the 2001 Schubert International Competetion in the Czech Republic. Their London debut was at the Purcell Room and they have appeared at the Wigmore Hall and at the Turner Sims Hall in Southampton. They broadcast live on the BBC programme "In Tune", and perform regularly in Japan.

Their repertoire is unusually wide-ranging and encompasses four-handed works from Mozart through to the present day. Given the relatively small number of contemporary duets, the duo decided to generate new interest by setting up their own Composers' Competition in 2002 with generous support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

They have also commissioned new works from Dai Fujikura, Jonathan Powell, Robert Keeley and Edwin Roxburgh, whose Reflets dans la Glace was shortlisted for the BBC's British Composer Awards in the solo and duo category.

Programme

Sonata in F major KV 497 Mozart
Fantasie in F minor D940 Schubert
Variations on a Theme by Schumann Brahms
Reflets dans la Glace Roxburgh
Three Slavonic Dances Dvorak
La Valse (arr Garban) Ravel