Charlotte Hawkins

This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin.

Richard-Hamelin began taking piano lessons with his father and has now performed with more than fifty ensembles, including the main symphony orchestras of Canada. He won the silver medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and earlier this year he recorded the Chopin piano concertos with the Symphony Orchestra of Montreal under Kent Nagano.

This afternoon, Charlotte showcases what Gramophone magazine describes as his “supremely artistic” and “highly sensitive” playing.

This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the Belgian clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe.

Van Wauwe began playing the clarinet at the age of eight and went on to study at top institutions in Berlin, Paris and Rome. She has since won numerous international competitions and performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras.

In 2018, Van Wauwe co-founded the Brussels chamber music ensemble Carousel and in the same year, she signed to the Dutch record label Pentatone. This afternoon, Charlotte features her recording of Brahms’s Clarinet Sonata No.1, from her 2019 album Belle Épogue.

This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the 26-year-old pianist Mariam Batashvili.

Having left her native Georgia to study at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar, Batashvili gained international recognition upon winning the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 2014. Since then, she’s performed with leading orchestras all over the world.

This afternoon, Charlotte plays music from Batashvili’s first album on the Warner Classics label, released earlier this year, which features music by Chopin and Liszt.