Sarah Chang Biography

BY: Chada Srihiran 8D Submitted to: Mr. Hussien Domocmat

Sarah Chang (Korean: ) (born December 10, 1980) is an American classical violinist. Her debut came in 1989 with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, Chang was recognized as a child prodigy. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music, graduating in 1999 and continuing university studies. During the 1990s and 2000s, Chang had major roles including being a soloist with the New York Philharmonic. She has also performed in countries such as England, France, Germany, Netherlands, China, South Korea, and Japan. She has collaborated with most major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic. For the 2004 Olympics, she was chosen to participate in the Olympic Torch relay in New [2] [2] York. Yale University dedicated a chair in Sprague Hall for Chang's name in 2005.

Early life and education

Chang was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Myoung-Jun, a composer, and Min-Soo Chang, who was a violinist and music [4] teacher. Chang's parents moved to the United States from South Korea in 1979 for her father's advanced music degree at Temple University. Her mother took composition classes at the University of Pennsylvania. Chang has said that although she "never actually lived in Korea... I do still feel very [5] strongly it's where my roots are." She has a younger brother, Michael. Her father has settled back in [6][7] Korea, while her brother graduated from Princeton University in 2011. In 1986, when Chang was 5 years old, she eventually auditioned for and was accepted to the Juilliard [8] School by performing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. Chang spent her weekends attending [9][10] music classes at Juilliard and shopping in New York City with her parents. In 1989, she began [11] working with Dorothy DeLay at her studio, where her father had received his musical lessons. A former [12][13] student and assistant to DeLay, Hyo Kang, also provided training to Chang. Following her 1999 high [14] school graduation in New Jersey, she returned to Juilliard for university and studied with DeLay. Chang learned to speak Korean. She is also fluent in German.
[15][16] [3]

Due to her musical accomplishments, Chang is among a very small number of professional figures recognized as a child prodigy.

Career
[edit]Early

work

Her mother trained her to play one-finger melodies on the piano at age 3. For her fourth birthday, she was given a 1/16-sized violin. At age 8, she auditioned alongside Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti, who worked with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Both granted her immediate [19][20][21] engagements. In 1991, when Chang was 10 years old, she recorded her first album, Debut; it was released by EMI [23] Classics on August 18, 1992 and quickly reached the Billboard chart of classical best-sellers. Chang quickly rose to fame and became known on an international scale, performing up to 150 concerts a year. At the age of 17, she asked for a three-month break; this opportunity did not come until she turned 20 years old. In 2006, Newsweek ranked her as one of the Top Eight Achieving Females in the United States. In the interview accompanying the feature, she commented: "I think having a career at such an
[22]

early age kept me focused. We schedule at least two to three years in advance in the classical industry. I [24] felt so grounded and so grateful to already know what it was that I wanted to do with my life."

20022005
Chang in Italy at the 2005 Festival I suoni delle Dolomiti, performing outdoors

In 2002, she performed in Pyongyang, North Korea. Chang commented: "The concert was full of government officials. Every single last seat. It was invitation only, but it was an unbelievable experience. Frightening and exhilarating at the same time. And I just thought about how lucky I am. I am so fortunate to be a musician, and at that moment, I genuinely felt that music is the one and only universal [24][25] language." Chang took part in watchmaker Movado's global advertising campaign "The Art of Time" with Pete Sampras and composer Wynton Marsalis. For the 2004 Olympics, she was selected to carry the Olympic [2] Torch in New York. In 2005, Yale University dedicated a chair in Sprague Hall in Chang's [2] name. Following this, Chang toured for a year with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a Sextet programme of summer festivals leading to a concert at the Berlin [26][27] Philharmonie.

2007present
Chang had her recital at Carnegie Hall on April 7, 2007 with British pianist Ashley Wass, and continued to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen and make appearances with the [29] former at both the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall throughout 2008. On March 27th and 28th Ms. Chang played for San Antonio, Texas audiences at the Majestic Theater, a performance which was preceded by her appearance (to meet and inspire young as well as seasoned musicians at no [30] charge) at Antonio Strad Violin in the same city. From May 2009 to June 2010, she held recital tours across Europe, North America and Asia with pianist Andrew von Oeyen; a July 2010 recording of the two [31] was eventually released. In the February 12, 2010 program, she held her recital at the Barbican Hall in [32] London. Chang made an appearance at the University of Southern California in March 2010, where she played Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26. She performed at the Hollywood Bowl in August 2010.
[28]

Public image
Chang plays the 1717 Guarneri del Gesu violin, which she received through the late Isaac Stern, uses a variety of bows: Pajeot for Mozart and Bach; Sartory for "the big-whammy concertos, the [35] Tchaikovsky and Sibelius"; and two Dominique Peccattes for other music.
[35]

and

Chang has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Montral Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, orchestras in London, England, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Holland. Additionally, she has performed with the Los Angeles

Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Honolulu Symphony, and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra amongst others. Chang has also been a soloist under the baton of conductors Mariss Jansons, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Andr Previn, Sir Simon Rattle,Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Placido Domingo, David Lockington, David Zinman, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jaap van Zweden, John Williams and others. Notable recital engagements have included her Carnegie Hall debut and performances at the Kennedy Center, Orchestra Hall, Symphony Hall, Barbican Centre, Philharmonie, and Concertgebouw. As a chamber musician, Chang has collaborated with Pinchas Zukerman, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yefim Bronfman, Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Stephen Kovacevich, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Lars Vogt, and the late Isaac Stern. She has made several chamber recordings with current and former members of the Berlin Philharmonic, including the Sextet and Piano Quintet of Dvorak and the Souvenir de Florence of Tchaikovsky. In January 2011, Sarah Chang was interviewed by Evan Solomon of Power & Politics (CBC) where it was revealed that she had been appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission on Russian [8] Relations, and also was taking on a new role as State Department Special Cultural Envoy. Chang has already been promoting and supporting childhood musical education for many years. She has also been a cultural ambassador for the U.S.; for instance, she was invited to play in North Korea's capital, [25] Pyongyang, with a South Korean orchestra in 2002.

Awards
Chang has received a number of awards, including: 1992 Avery Fisher Career Grant 1993 Gramophone Magazine Young Artist of the Year (1993) 1993 Newcomer of the Year for "Echo" (Germany) 1993 Nan Pa (South Korea) 1994 Newcomer of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards 1999 Avery Fisher Prize
[fn 1]

2004 Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana Award in Siena, Italy 2004 Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame

Discography
[edit]CDs 1992: Debut Sarasate, Elgar, Paganini (EMI Classics)

1993: Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances 1, 2, 4, 7 / Peter Tchaikowsky: Violin concerto op 35. Conductor: Sir Colin Davis (EMI Classics) 1996: douard Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole/Henri Vieuxtemps: Violin concerto Nr. 5. Orchestra: Concertgebouw Orchestra (Lalo) / Philharmonia Orchestra (Vieuxtemps), Conductor: Charles Dutoit (EMI Classics) 1997: Simply Sarah (EMI Classics) 1998: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Jean Sibelius: Violin concertos. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker, Conductor: Maris Jansons (EMI Classics) 1999: Sweet Sorrow. Pieces of Vitali, Gluck, Brahms, Lalo, Vieuxtemps, Paganini, Sibelius, Liszt, Tschaikowsky, Saint-Saens, misc. Orchestras, conductors (EMI Classics) 1999: Richard Strauss: Violin concerto and Violin sonata. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Conductor and piano: Wolfgang Sawallisch (EMI Classics) 2000: Karl Goldmark: Violin concerto op. 28. Orchestra: Grzenich-Orchester, Conductor: James Conlon (EMI Classics) 2002: Fire and Ice. Sarasate, Massenet, Ravel, Beethoven, J. S. Bach, Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker, Conductor: Plcido Domingo (EMI Classics) 2002: Antonn Dvok, Tchaikowsky: (with other artists) Souvenir de Florence (EMI Classics) 2003: Classical Legends. Compilation ft Sarah Chang and other artists 2004: French Violin sonatas. Piano: Lars Vogt (EMI Classics) 2004: Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sinfonies. Disc 4: The Lark Ascending. Conductor: Bernard Haitink (EMI Classics) 2005: Meisterwerke der Kammermusik. Compilation ft Sarah Chang and other artists, 3 CD 2005: Andrew Lloyd Webber: Phantasia (with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber) (EMI Classics) 2006: Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin concerto Nr.1 / Sergej Prokofieff: Violin concert Nr. 1. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker, Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle (EMI Classics) 2007: Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, and Violin Concerto in g, op 12 no 1, RV 317. Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (EMI Classics) 2009: Max Bruch Violin Concerto No.1, Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto Kurt Masur, Dresdner [36] Philharmonie (EMI Classics)

[edit]DVDs 1995: Niccol Paganini Violin Concerto Berliner Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta 2003: Spanish Night: Sarasate Carmen Fantasie, Zigeunerweisen, Thais Meditation, Berliner Philharmoniker, Plcido Domingo (Conductor)