The slow movement was particularly striking, as Waarts sang the contemplative characteristics in a mature way that brought to mind a young Yehudi Menuhin.
Aamulehti
Critical Acclaim
“From the first note of Stephen Waarts’ Brahms G Major Sonata I was hooked, and within a few bars I was moved to tears.”
The Strad
Stephen Waarts’s innate and individual musical voice is establishing him as a firm favourite with audiences in North America and Europe. His prize-winning success at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition – including securing the majority vote of the television audience – boosted international attention. In March 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Following his debut at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2017, Stephen has been awarded the 2017 soloist prize which will be presented in September 2018.
With a voracious appetite for repertoire, Stephen has already performed over thirty standard, as well as rarely performed, violin concertos and is a passionate chamber musician.
Stephen Waarts gave an outstanding debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. In a fine program of Beethoven, Bartok, Ravel and Waxman. . .
The Washington PostCritical Acclaim
Kronberg im Taunus
Johanniskirche,
Kronberg im Taunus, Germany
Johanniskirche,
Kronberg im Taunus, Germany
Stadhalle,
Kronberg im Taunus, Germany
Johanniskirche,
Kronberg im Taunus, Germany
Teatro Bibiena,
Mantova, Italy
Palazzo Ducale, Sala dei Capitani,
Mantova, Italy
Palazzo Te, Sala dei Cavalli,
Mantova, Italy
Germany
Germany
Rathaus Kronberg,
Kronberg, Germany
David Geffen Hall,
New York City
Marlboro,
Vermont
Clark Arts Center,
Shelter Island, New York
Rosenow Church, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
Rosenow, Germany
The slow movement was particularly striking, as Waarts sang the contemplative characteristics in a mature way that brought to mind a young Yehudi Menuhin.
The music’s expressive power was always controlled and his beautiful tone enriched everynote.
Mr. Waarts was commanding in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor… Mr. Waarts tapped into tensions within the Neo-Classical veneer of Prokofiev’s music. That opening movement goes through dramatic shifts, from moments of dreamy lyricism, which Mr. Waarts shaped with melting beauty, to bursts of perpetual-motion busyness, which he dispatched with articulate fervor.