Hung-Kuan Chen, piano

Hung-Kuan Chen » piano

h orowitz p i a no ser i e s · d e c e m b e r 1, 2 0 10 · 8: 0 0 pm

frédéric chopin (1810–1849)

Deux Nocturnes, Op. 62 No. 1 in B major No. 2 in E major

maurice ravel (1875-1937)

Gaspard de la Nuit: Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand I. Ondine II. Le Gibet III. Scarbo

alexander scriabin (1872-1915)

Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Op. 53 Intermission

franz liszt (1811-1886)

Sonata in B minor, S. 178 Lento assai - Allegro energico Grandioso - Recitativo - Andante sostenuto - Quasi Adagio - Allegro energico - Più mosso - Stretta quasi Presto - Presto-Prestissimo -

As a courtesy to others, please silence all cell phones and devices. Photography of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Robert Blocker, Dean

Hung-Kuan Chen » piano

Hung-Kuan Chen is one of the great personalities of the music world: enigmatic, brilliant and versatile. He is a pianist of uncompromising individuality and a remarkably inspiring pedagogue. Born in Taipei and raised in Germany, Mr. Chen’s early studies fostered strong roots in Germanic Classicism which he tempered with the sensibility of Chinese philosophy: the result is a dynamic and imaginative artistry.

Mr. Chen’s career was launched when he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists’ Auditions which presented him on the Young Concert Artists Series and followed it with a second major New York concert at Alice Tully Hall.

One of the most decorated pianists of his generation, Mr. Chen won top prizes in the Arthur Rubinstein, Busoni, and Geza Anda International Piano Competitions, along with prizes in the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal, Van Cliburn, and Chopin International Competitions. He is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Hung-Kuan Chen has appeared in the music capitals of Asia, Europe, and the Americas and collaborated with major orchestras including Houston, Baltimore, Israel, Montréal, Pittsburgh, the Tonhalle, San Francisco, and Shanghai. He has performed with the esteemed conductors Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, George Cleve, Josef Silverstein, Andrew Parrett, and Sui Lan; and colleagues including Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin, Roman Totenberg, Denes Zsigmondy, Bion Tsang, Anthony Gigliotti, David Shifrin, Laurence Lesser, and pianists Tema Blackstone and Pi-hsien Chen.

Mr. Chen has served as chair of the piano department of the Shanghai Conservatory and is the director of the International Piano Academy in Shanghai.

He is a member of the piano faculty of the New England Conservatory. This year he is a visiting professor of piano at the Yale School of Music.

In 1992 Hung-Kuan Chen suffered an injury to his hand which caused neurological damage and eventually resulted in focal dystonia. Through Qi Gong meditation and his own unique research, he was able to heal and return to his life as a concert artist. His first post-accident solo recital in 1998 received rave reviews, and he was described as a transformed artist. Following his 2006 Jordan Hall concert, Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe, “Hung-Kuan Chen is back in prime technical form after years of struggle following an injury, but those years have made him a different pianist, and a better one. This man plays music with uncommon understanding and the instrument with uncommon imagination.”

h orowit z p i a no ser ie s · 2 0 10 -11 s eas o n

boris berman · Artistic Director Wednesdays at 8 pm in Morse Recital Hall

FEB 2

Peter Frankl’s 75th Birthday Recital “Not a mere pianist, but a true artist.” – Auditorium Music of Beethoven and Bartók.

FEB 23

Emanuel Ax plays Schubert “His pianism is always thoughtful, lyrical, lustrous.”

– Washington Post The all-Schubert program includes the Impromptus, Op. 142; Sonata in A major, Op. 120, D. 664; and the Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960.

MAR 23

Robert Blocker, piano “Great skill and accomplishment, a measurable virtuoso bent...” – Los Angeles Times

APR 6

Boris Berman plays Bach The New York Times has praised Berman for his “poetical refinement and intense musicality.”

This concert features concertos by J.S. Bach for keyboard and strings. With Katie Hyun and David Southorn, violin; Ettore Causa, viola; and Mihai Marica, cello.

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upcom ing ev ents

http://music.yale.edu DEC 5

Vista 8 pm | Sun | Morse Recital Hall | Free A fresh look at chamber music. Students illuminate performances with commentary on the repertoire.

Stravinsky: A Soldier’s Tale; Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in C minor; Jörg Widmann: Fünf Bruchstücke; Shostakovich: Piano Quintet. Wendy Sharp, director.

DEC 7

OPUS ONE 8 pm | Tue | Morse Recital Hall Tickets $25-30 / Students $15 OPUS ONE – Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Ida Kavafian, violin; Steven Tenenbom, viola; and Peter Wiley, cello – plays Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, and the East Coast premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s piano quartet.

DEC 9

New Music for Orchestra 8 pm | Thu | Morse Recital Hall | Free Shinik Hahm conducts the Yale Philharmonia in Pan Penseroso, a flute concerto by Martin Bresnick with soloist Ransom Wilson, and new works by Andy Akiho, Reena Esmail, Adrian Knight, and Omar Surillo.

DEC 10

Yale Schola Cantorum: Vespers 6 pm | Fri | St. Mary’s Church | Free James O’Donnell, guest conductor; Andrew Kotylo, organ; Holly Chatham and Arthur Fiacco, continuo.

Music of Grier, Byrd, Martin, MacMillan, Palestrina, J.S. Bach, Guerrero, and Williams. Presented by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

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