On receiving news of a sudden and severe illness suffered by a member of the Cret Trio in the USA who were due to perform at Newton Abbot’s Courtenay Centre this Sunday (October 19) the Nadsa committee pulled out all the stops to find a replacement.

Fortunately, London-based Dina Duisen, is available to perform at short notice along with fellow-performer, internationally acclaimed violinist, Emily Sun.

This will be Dina’s fourth appearance at Nadsa and will be eagerly awaited by members and previous audiences alike. Her brilliant playing, warmth and audience rapport make her a favourite.

Kazakh-British pianist Dina was born into a family of musicians in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She studied there and in the USA (Artist Diploma) before completing a Master of Arts Degree in Performance at the Royal Academy of Music and graduating with distinction.

Dina is a major prize-winner at many piano competitions, including the 29th International Piano Competition in Senigallia, the Shabyt International Competition, the National Competition of Kazakhstan and the International Musician of the 21st Century Competition. She has also participated in a number of international music festivals in Europe, the USA and Asia, including IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses and Open Chamber Music, Rome Music Festival and the Oxford International Piano Festival.

Australian violinist Emily Sun is rapidly gaining international recognition as a rising soloist. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the 2016 Royal Overseas League Music Competition UK, the first violinist to win the award since 1981. She has also won prestigious violin competitions in Australia, Europe, Russia and the UK.

Dina and Emily have chosen to play four wonderful pieces: violin sonatas by Mozart, Franck and Brahms and a Schubert piano sonata. It will be a concert rich in melody and lyricism. From Mozart’s Classical poise to Brahms’s Romantic intensity, this will be chamber music of the highest order in Nadsa’s intimate setting.

Mozart’s two movement Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat major, K.302 opens with a fanfare and ends with a closing subject of melting beauty. It will be followed by César Franck’s deservedly well-known masterpiece. Inspired by the marriage of violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in 1886, it is considered one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written.

Opening the second half of the concert, Dina will play Franz Schubert’s delightful Impromptu in B-flat major, Op. 142. It is a famous set of variations on a theme that recalls the melody Schubert borrowed from his incidental music to the play Rosamunde. Luckily for posterity, though his original publisher declined the work, it eventually appeared in print more than a decade after Schubert’s death.

To finish, Emily and Dina will come together to play Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108. It will close their performance with an almost orchestrally conceived finale.

The concert is promoted by Nadsa concerts and will be performed at the Courtenay Centre in Newton Abbot on Sunday 19th October at 3:30pm.

Tickets must be bought in advance online www.nadsa.co.uk or, failing that, at 01626 717730 (10:00am – 5:00pm)