MUSIC AT EMORY
2022–2023
2022–2023 MUSIC AT EMORY
Eric Zhang, violin and piano
Senior Recital
Sunday, March 19, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Program
To be announced from the stage.
This recital is presented by the Department of Music at Emory University. music.emory.edu
Eric Zhang
Eric Zhang, 21, from Knoxville, Tennessee, is a senior majoring in physics/ astronomy and also studies music research at Emory University. He has played violin for 17 years and piano for 18 years. He studies violin with Jessica Wu and piano with Erika Tazawa. Zhang plays within the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and has been a participant in many different chamber groups throughout his time at Emory. Zhang’s music research in the ethnomusicology discipline is focused on examining the cultural and historical contextualization of music. While he doesn’t like to limit himself to one genre or time, he has done extensive research on classical, jazz, and rock music. During his senior year, Zhang has studied with Meredith Schweig to analyze the historical significance of traditional, modern, and jazz Chinese music from the 1900s until present.
He also produced an album of his own playing traditional Chinese folk songs with extensive notes on the cultural contexts of each piece. Zhang is currently researching the inner workings and structure of musical institutes across the Atlanta region with Paul Bhasin, director of orchestral studies at Emory. Outside of music, Zhang conducts research with Merida Batiste in her BRAVE lab, and simulates the dynamics of galaxies. Since he was in high school, Zhang has been researching with Michael Scott Smith at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and conducting nova nucleosynthesis simulations with comparison to meteoritic observations. Zhang is also the director of outreach for the Emory Tibet Science Initiative Peer Mentoring Program and tutors Tibetan monks and nuns in introductory physics. In his free time, Zhang likes to play ultimate frisbee on the Emory Men’s Ultimate Club team, Juice. Zhang would like to thank his parents for all their support, his past teachers and mentors, and his friends for their unwavering support.
Erika Tazawa
Pianist Erika Tazawa has steadily gained recognition as a versatile collaborative artist, vocal coach, and a specialist of contemporary music. Gramophone UK wrote of her solo album Rhythm of Silence, “ . . . such intelligent program-building and committed performances warrant serious attention and exposure.” Tazawa actively performs as the pianist of the contemporary ensemble Bent Frequency, which focuses on socially conscious programming and championing works by women, composers of color, and LGBTQ+. A recipient of the prestigious Stern Fellowship in vocal accompanying, Tazawa has performed with leading vocal artists internationally and has served as musical staff for AIMS in Graz and the Atlanta Opera. Tazawa is on the collaborative piano faculty at Emory University and is pursuing a doctoral degree in choral conducting at the University of Georgia.
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Cover Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague
Music at Emory
Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings.
We hope you enjoy sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.
404.727.5050
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