Jean Sibelius: and Rakastava (The Lover)
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Featuring Batia Steinbock-Lorenzen, piano
Josef Suk: Serenade, Op.6
Born in Warsaw, Batia Steinbock Lorenzen moved to Israel at the age of one, and began her piano studies at the age of five with Irina Zarizkaia, winner of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Mrs. Steinbock Lorenzen studied at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music and at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin. Among her main teachers were G. Sebok, W. Aufhuzer, M. Bogoslavsky and G. Sava. She participated in numerous master classes worldwide and collaborated with a variety of artists, among them Maestro Franco Rossi. After winning a special scholarship, Mrs. Steinbock Lorenzen spent time in Italy studying with Maestro Rossi from the legendary "Quartetto Italiano". She performed in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, under the baton of U. Michelangeli, H. Sodant, Luciano Berio, A. Tamay. Mrs. Steinbock Lorenzen frequently performed Italian contemporary music, representing Italy in several contemporary music festivals around Europe. Together with her husband, violinist Eckart Lorenzen, the two founded a Violin and Piano Duo, Duo Lorenzen, winning the press first prize in Italy for their performance of Sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, and Beethoven. The Duo has won prizes in several international competitions, including the Gui Competition, Florence, and the Trapani Competition, Sicily. As a duo, they frequently collaborate with other artists and chamber ensembles in Europe and Israel. In Israel, the Duo has recorded for “Kol Hamusika” the classical radio station, and continues to collaborate with prominent Israeli musicians. Mrs. Steinbock Lorenzen also founded, together with composer and conductor Gil Shohat, the Ensemble Elysium, which performs regularly at some of the main festivals in Israel, such as the Israel Festival, Ein Hod Festival, Red Sea Festival).