The concerts of the Artist Residency Series are the culmination of the participation of tomorrow’s music stars- young and brilliant pianists who come to the festival to work with the artist faculty of Porto Pianofest and prepare for tours, recordings, important concerts, and to make their art known to the world. Six pianists are chosen, from all continents, to perform in a solo recital and share their unique musical ideas with our welcoming audience in Porto.

This single ticket includes entrance to the full day of Artist Residency Concerts for August 6th, with recitals at 18h00 and 19h30. Join us for one concert that evening, or both!

Hyunkyung Anais Ahn is a pianist based in New York City and a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Piano Performance at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studies with Dr. Vladimir Valjarević. She previously earned her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music under Dr. Inesa Sinkevych and her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she studied with Elena Abend.

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Program Note from the Artist:

This program explores Beethoven as a bridge between imagination, homage, and transformation. E. T. A. Hoffmann, best known today as a writer, was also a composer and one of Beethoven’s most important early critics. In his writings, Hoffmann described Beethoven’s music as opening a mysterious and deeply spiritual world, one that spoke directly to the Romantic imagination. Hoffmann’s own Piano Sonata No. 2 begins the program from this world of fantasy, drama, and inward expression. Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses offers a different connection to Beethoven: it was composed for a publication supporting the Beethoven monument in Bonn, and its seriousness, discipline, and emotional intensity evoke the spirit of homage. The program concludes with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 110, where lyricism, suffering, and renewal unfold in one of his most intimate musical journeys. Together, these works connect to Beethoven not as a monument alone, but as a living bridge between Romantic imagination and human transformation.