Young Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene makes his Vancouver debut, March 23

In Vancouver Recital Society concert, the talented 24-year-old plays alongside New York City–based collaborative pianist Sahun Sam Hong

By emily lyth

Johan Dalene. Photo by Mats Bäcker

The Vancouver Recital Society presents Johan Dalene at the Vancouver Playhouse on March 23 at 3 pm

AT 24 YEARS of age, Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene is a rising star on the international music scene.

Born to a pianist mother and cellist father, Dalene picked up a violin at age four and gave his first professional performance just three years later. That was the beginning of a long string of successes for the musician; he won the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition in Odense, Denmark, in 2019, and was named young artist of the year at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards in 2022.

Now Dalene has begun to play around the world—and this season has plenty of firsts in store for the artist, including an Australian tour in June. Dalene will make his Canadian debut at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium in Abbotsford on March 21, and on March 23, he’ll play a Vancouver Recital Society concert at the Vancouver Playhouse. Acclaimed New York City–based collaborative pianist Sahun Sam Hong will accompany him in both B.C. performances.

The program for the matinee show in Vancouver includes Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105, Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 13, and Ravel’s Hungarian rhapsody–inspired Tzigane. There’s also a couple of works by 20th-century composers: Rautavaara’s Notturno e danza and Lutosławski’s Partita for violin and piano.

Dalene is artist-in-residence at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London this season. In 2023, he won the Grammi (Swedish Grammy Award) for classical album of the year for his recording Nielsen & Sibelius: Violin Concertos with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds.

Stick around when the Playhouse concert concludes to learn more about Dalene’s work during a post-performance talkback.  

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