The Strand International Piano Series - The Beethoven Sonatas

Step into the stunning candlelit setting of St Mary le Strand — “the Jewel of the Strand” — for the return of The Strand International Piano Series, now it's in 5th year after a critically acclaimed launch season in 2022–23. This intimate and architecturally impressive Baroque church has quickly become one of London’s most captivating concert venues.

This year’s series celebrates one of the most profound and enduring achievements in the piano repertoire: Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas. Spanning the full arc of Beethoven’s creative life, these masterpieces offer an extraordinary portrait of the composer’s evolving musical voice—from youthful elegance and Classical clarity to thunderous drama, virtuosic brilliance, profound lyricism, and deeply introspective beauty. These concerts are a tribute to Beethoven at the 200th anniversary of his death.

Whether you’re a seasoned concert-goer or discovering classical piano music for the first time, this is an evening not to be missed—set in one of London’s most atmospheric musical spaces, just steps away from some of the city’s finest restaurants and bars.

Featuring
Yuki Negishi (piano)    

Programme
Beethoven Sonata No.9 Op.14 No.1
Beethoven Sonata No.20 Op.14 No.2
Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor Op.posth 
Debussy L’isle joyeuse 
Chopin Polonaise-Fantaisie 

About Yuki Negishi
Steinway Artist Yuki Negishi has established herself as a pianist of rare poetry, passion and virtuosity, equally at home as an adjudicator, educator and researcher, captivating audiences wherever she performs around the world. Yuki has already performed in over 800 concerts in the UK alone, including many of the most important halls and festivals, and regularly performs about 30 concerts a year as recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician in countries such as the Netherlands (Concertgebouw), France, Germany, Switzerland (Tonhalle), Italy (Festival di Londra, Blanc European Festival, Artepiano International Festival), Romania, Japan, China, Bangladesh and the USA. She has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (In Tune), Scala Radio, Xray FM, ITV, Channel 4, Dutch, Polish, Romanian and French television and radio.  She has released her debut CD through the Quartz label (www.quartzmusic.com) in May 2022, including music by Chopin, Kapustin, the world-premiere recordings of Melanie Spanswick's "Enigma" written for Yuki in 2019, and Robert Mitchell's "Our Hearts Dance the Infinite (As the Giant Puya Blooms)" to unanimous reviews from Gramophone, International Piano Magazine and Record Geijutsu Japan.  Another CD has been released in conjunction with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation of unrecorded works by the Japanese composer Koichi Kishi, with violinist Yukiko Ishibashi in October 2022, by the Japanese label Mittenwald. Her latest release (May 2024) of Preludes by Arensky, Rachmaninoff, Ravel and Gershwin has also been praised by Colin Clarke of “ Classical Explorer”- “This is a wonderful disc, magnificently programmed and superbly played…nourishing for the soul..”