Biography 598 words
Download biography as pdf Download biography as word docSarah Chang is recognised as one of the world’s great violinists. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 8 she has performed with the greatest orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades.
Ms. Chang tours extensively throughout the year. Highlights in 2012/13 include a UK tour with the Dresden Philharmonic, concerts with Melbourne Symphony and return performances with Orchestre National de France, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. 2011/12 saw her return to MDR Leipzig, Russian National Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra with concerts in London and on tour in Asia, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, the Moscow Soloists on tour in Switzerland.
Last season, Ms Chang premiered a new arrangement of Bernstein West Side Story Suite by David Newman which she will tour further in the US and Europe. Ms. Chang appears regularly in the Far East and returned to Seoul for concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and to Guangzhou to perform with the Symphony Orchestra as part of the Asian Games Opening Festival.
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Sarah Chang is recognised as one of the world’s great violinists. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 8 she has performed with the greatest orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades.
Ms. Chang tours extensively throughout the year. Highlights in 2012/13 include a UK tour with the Dresden Philharmonic, concerts with Melbourne Symphony and return performances with Orchestre National de France, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. 2011/12 saw her return to MDR Leipzig, Russian National Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra with concerts in London and on tour in Asia, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, the Moscow Soloists on tour in Switzerland.
Last season, Ms Chang premiered a new arrangement of Bernstein West Side Story Suite by David Newman which she will tour further in the US and Europe. Ms. Chang appears regularly in the Far East and returned to Seoul for concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and to Guangzhou to perform with the Symphony Orchestra as part of the Asian Games Opening Festival.
In recital, Ms. Chang regularly travels internationally and previous season tours include visits to cities such as London, Zurich, Dublin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Moscow and St. Petersburg. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman, Wolfgang Sawallish, Yefim Bronfman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo Yo Ma, the late Isaac Stern and members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ms. Chang’s most recent recording for EMI Classics, performances of Brahms and Bruch violin concertos with Kurt Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonie was received to excellent critical and popular acclaim and was her 20th album for the label. Her 2007 recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons attracted international commendation, with BBC Music Magazine stating: “She has never made a finer recording.” She has also recorded Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1 and Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 live with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, Fire and Ice, an album of popular shorter works for violin and orchestra with Placido Domingo conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Dvorak concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis, as well as several chamber music and sonata discs with artists including pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Vogt.
In 2006, Ms. Chang was honored as one of 20 Top Women in Newsweek Magazine’s “Women and Leadership, 20 Powerful Women Take Charge” issue. In March 2008, Ms. Chang was honored as a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for her professional achievements, commitment to society and potential in shaping the future of the world.
In 2005, Yale University dedicated a chair in Sprague Hall in Sarah Chang’s name and in 2012 Harvard University gave her the 'Distinguished Leadership in the Arts Award'. For the June 2004 Olympic games, she was given the honor of running with the Olympic Torch in New York, and that same month, became the youngest person ever to receive the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame award. Also in 2004, Ms. Chang was awarded the Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Sienna, Italy. She is a past recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, Gramophone’s “Young Artist of the Year” award, Germany’s “Echo” Schallplattenpreis, “Newcomer of the Year” honors at the International Classical Music Awards in London, and Korea’s “Nan Pa” award. Ms. Chang has been named the US Embassy’s Artistic Ambassador from 2011.
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Reviews
"Chang is a complete package as a player -- technically assured, colorfully expansive, subtly probing, boldly commanding."
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, Grand Rapids Press
"[She] received a Southbank ovation, after delivering a work she has made her own, Bruch’s ‘Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor’."
Michael Church, The Independent
"Her gifts are at a level so removed from the rest of us that all we can do is feel the appropriate awe and then wonder on the mysteries of nature. The ancients would certainly have had Ms. Chang emerging fully formed from some Botticellian scallop shell."
The New York Times
"The two parties played with a wonderful mutual awareness, interweaving seamlessly, no doubt much helped by Chang’s physical stage presence. "
seenandheard-international.com