Clélia Iruzun will pay tribute to Alberto Nepomuceno in a concert to be held on March 7, 2020, at Opera America, New York.
With her unique combination of a vibrant Brazilian spirit and deep musicality, London-based pianist Clélia Iruzun has become one of the most exciting musicians to emerge on the international concert scene in recent years. Clélia initially studied at the 
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s School of Music and later at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she won several notable awards in international competitions before graduating with the Recital Diploma from the Academy. Clélia subsequently worked with several highly regarded virtuosos, including Nelson Freire, Jacques Klein, Stephen Kovacevich, and Fou Ts’Ong, and especially with the distinguished Brazilian pianist and pedagogue Mercês de Silva Telles in Paris. Notable Brazilian composers, including Francisco Mignone, Arnaldo Rebello, and Marlos Nobre, have dedicated works to Clélia, including – most recently – Beethoven Cunha and Alexandre Rachid.
About Alberto Nepomuceno
October 16, 2020, will mark 100 years since the death of Alberto Nepomuceno
The Brazilian composer and conductor Alberto Nepomuceno played an important role in the emergence of a national Brazilian musical style. A teacher of Heitor Villa-Lobos, he himself studied with some of the most famous figures in Europe. Nepomuceno was born on July 6, 1864, in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil, where his father was a violin teacher 
and cathedral musician. The family moved to Recife, where Nepomuceno continued to study violin and piano and considered a career in law. This brought him into contact with progressive forces that eventually succeeded in overthrowing the Brazilian monarchy and instituting republican government. However, he continued his musical studies, and at just 18 years old, he became the director of the Carlos Gomes Club, the main concert venue in Recife. A few years later, he began to present his own songs in concert, many of them songs in Portuguese, even though supporters of Italian opera argued that Portuguese was unsuitable for vocal music. Nepomuceno engaged in a vigorous battle in the press with his detractors, moving to Rio de Janeiro in 1885 and teaching music there.
More information: www.bmf-usa.org