Inspiration for

Chopin and Pauline

by Artistic Director

Deborah Berioli

 

The name of Frédéric Chopin is instantly recognizable and invokes recollections of his great piano works – his sonatas, ballades and polonaises to name only a few.  But who is Pauline?  Pauline Viardot, a famous mezzo-soprano and close friend of Chopin’s, arranged many of his piano works for voice.  And voila!  a perfect concert is born!  So please join us for an exquisite evening of Chopin’s compositions for the piano performed by Chopin specialist Hsia-Jung Chang  and a set of his well-known mazurkas arranged specifically for the voice.

 

Featured Guest Artist
Hsia_Jung Chang
Professional Biography

 

A native of Taiwan, Hsia-Jung Chang grew up listening to the rehearsals and performances of her singer-guitarist mother, Ho Lan, whose musical repertoire ranged from Taiwanese folk songs, flamenco, to her own transcriptions of Chopin. Chang has premiered and commissioned numerous works by composers in the United States and Scandinavia. She has been featured soloist on KUHT television, KAMU radio, Danish National radio, Taiwan radio and TV. Her recent concerts feature the bulk of Frédéric Chopin's piano solo works, including the complete sets of Ballades, Impromptus, Etudes, Preludes, and Scherzi.
Chang's CDs are distributed by CDBaby.com. Chopin: Impromptus, Ballades, Berceuse was showcased on the Piano Bench hour on KPBX radio, and on Call of the Mountain of WNYE. Her CD of the Chopin Complete Préludes, recorded on a rebuilt 1907 Pleyel piano, is starting to generate a lot of interest in the US and abroad. It has been showcased on Reflections from the Keyboard with David Dubal on WQXR, CBC radio program As It Happens, WJFF radio interview, and other radio stations. It was reviewed by UK-based New Classics web critic: Hsia-Jung Chang performs the works with great delicacy and refinement, allowing a wide spectrum of colour and moods to emerge in a way that appears effortless. Chang’s first improvisation album, Inside the Piano – 21st Century Improvisations, makes use of the piano in unconventional ways, producing sublime as well as harrowing soundscapes using the strings and resonating surfaces inside the piano. This innovative recording was featured in an hour-long interview as part of the New York Alive series on WKCR. Her brand new album Chopin Etudes Op. 10 & Op. 25 will be available through CD Baby by April 2010. For advance copies please contact the artist.
In addition to giving solo and chamber music concerts, Chang has been guest lecturer/performer at the Manhattan School of Music, Duke University, Prince George's Community College, College of the Mainland, Friends University, the Shengyang Music Conservatory, and Dong Bei University of China. She also performed with the Metropolitan Opera Guild Outreach, which introduced opera to children in schools of the greater New York area.
Chang received her Bachelors and Masters degree in Piano Performance from the University of Houston and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her piano teachers include Mary Toy, Nelita True, Ruth Tomfohrde, Abbey Simon, and Constance Keene.
She now resides in New York City.