Rana and Benedetti on WQXR’s “19 for 19” Featured Artist list
Beatrice Rana and Nicola Benedetti (Photo Credit: Marie Staggat & Simon Fowler)
Our two stars Nicola Benedetti and Beatrice Rana were announced this week as part of WQXR’s ”19 for 19” list of 19 season-long featured artists for 2019. WQXR is America’s most popular classical radio station and this is their first-ever initiative of this kind, headed by new Creative Director Clemency Burton-Hill. According to WQXR, this list is “a group of artists we love that includes long-time heroes, established favorites and newcomers set for stardom.” Rana and Benedetti are alongside talent such as cellist Steven Isserlis, saxophonist Jess Gillam and soprano Julia Bullock.
WQXR writes: “Contrary to the misguided and musty reputation often bestowed upon classical music, this art form is very much alive — and in the hands of many talented and creative musicians ushering it forward.”
On Nicola Benedetti: “The multiple-award-winning Scottish violinist burst onto the classical scene in 2004 when, aged just 16, she won the prestigious BBC Young Musician of the Year competition performing Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto in front of a television audience of millions. Since then, she has released nine chart-storming albums, been honored multiple times by Her Majesty the Queen for services to music and education and headlined numerous major classical events around the world. Now Benedetti is set for a busier-than-ever 2019: Before the end of January, she gives the world premiere of a new piece by jazz legend Wynton Marsalis (who wrote his 2015 violin concerto for her) at New York’s 92nd Street Y. For an exclusive sneak preview, join us for a special event featuring Benedetti and Marsalis live at The Greene Space on January 16th.”
On Beatrice Rana: “Rana made an international splash as the Silver Medalist of the 14th Van Cliburn competition — a decade after her orchestral debut at just nine years old. A 2018 Classic BRIT Awards nominee for Best Female Artist of the Year, Rana is certainly a young artist to keep on any music lover’s radar. Her 2017 recording of Bach’s The Goldberg Variations made hers a name often spoken in the WQXR office, and earned her a place on that year’s best overall albums list. Rana tours tirelessly in 2019, traveling between various cities in the U.K., Italy and Germany in a matter of days. In New York, Rana appears twice at Carnegie Hall, first for her recital debut at Zankel Hall in March, and in June for the final concert of the season, joining Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3.”
For the full list, click here.