4 February 2018
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Multi-talented musician Kevin Jansson, hailed as one of the finest of his generation, is the January 2018 recipient of the Cork Person of the Month award.
From an early age, 17 year old Kevin from Wilton, Cork, showed promise in his musical skills. In fact, he gave his first piano recital at the age of 12. One year later he made his concert debut during the Cork International Choral Festival performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor with the CIT Cork School of Music Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Spratt. Kevin has already taken first prize in five international competitions on both piano and violin and in 2017 his debut piano solo CD was released by the Swiss record label, Claves and launched as part of the Cork Fleischmann Symphony Orchestra concert in Cork City Hall. He also made his Carnegie Hall debut last November with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta.
In 2014 Kevin was one of 12 young pianists selected from around the world to participate in the Allianz Lang Lang Foundation Music Camp in Barcelona, culminating in a concert masterclass with Chinese Concert Pianist, Lang Lang.
Pictured at the award presentation l/r Manus O’Callaghan, Awards Organiser; Tom Jansson, Kevin’s Father; Niamh Lehane, Lexus Cork; Kevin Jansson, January Cork Person of the Month; AnnMarie O’Sullivan, AMO’Sullivan PR; Marion Jansson, Kevin’s Mother; Pat Lemasney, Southern; George Duggan, Cork Crystal. Pic by Tony O’Connell Photography.
A piano student of Mary Beattie at the CIT Cork School of Music since the age of six, he is also under the tutelage of Una Kindlon for his violin studies. Kevin is the current joint holder of the National Concert Hall of Ireland Young Musician’s Award for Strings and he has been named as leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland for 2018.
Awards organiser Manus O’Callaghan said, “In a very short period of time, Kevin has forged a reputation for himself as one of the finest musicians of his generation. The awards he has won and the accolades he has received for someone so young speaks for itself.
“Kevin has a very bright future and I look forward to seeing him perform in the greatest music venues in the world over the coming years.”
Kevin has participated in the William Finlay Mentoring Programme for Gifted Pianists run by the Dublin International Piano Competition. He has also played at numerous festivals throughout Ireland including the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the Westport Festival of Chamber Music and at the launch of the New Ross Piano Festival. He has also performed at the National Concert Hall Ireland on several occasions. In August 2016 Kevin was a guest performer at the Dinard Music Festival in France.
Attending masterclasses in Ireland and throughout Europe, Kevin has played for many eminent pianists and teachers including Alexei Grynyuk, Lang Lang, Joseph Moog, Pavel Neressian, John O’Conor, Ewa Poblocka, Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy and Andreas Weber.
In February 2016 he was the youngest participant and joint winner of the Thierry Scherz prize at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad Festival in Switzerland which led to a wonderful opportunity to record his debut solo CD.
Kevin also has an avid interest in maths and physics and received the gold medal at the Irish National Physics Olympiad in 2016.
