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Chinese-American pianist Shuann Chai
is an active and engaging performer, critically acclaimed for
her interpretations on both modern and historical instruments.
Recent projects include a series of solo and chamber music programs
commemorating the bicentennial anniversaries of Felix Mendelssohn
and Robert Schumann in a number of venues in the Netherlands
such as the Noorderkerk (Amsterdam), the Cruquius Museum (Heemstede),
and the Dr. Anton Philipszaal (Den Haag); a 5-concert tour in
Norway as a guest artist with the MiN-Ensemble, and a performance
of Beethoven’s First Concerto at the Bloomington Early
Music Festival (USA) with conductor Stanley Ritchie which garnered
special praise in a concert review ("… superb command
of the instrument... with a hefty wattage of emotional intensity").
Ms. Chai’s concert tours have taken her from Beijing,
China (as a guest artist at Qinghua University) to Kiev, Ukraine,
where she performed concerti by Schumann and Tchaikovsky. She
has also been featured in live radio broadcasts on WGBH Boston
(with cellist Pieter Wispelwey), Harmonia Early Music Radio,
and Radio-Canada, and was chosen to perform at the International
Music Seminar of Prussia Cove, England.
Ms. Chai completed undergraduate degrees in Piano and Biology
at Oberlin College. After choosing music over medical school,
she continued her studies at the New England Conservatory
in Boston where she earned a Master's degree. Her teachers
have included Jack Radunsky, Norma Fisher, and David Breitman,
and she has worked extensively with Claus-Christian Schuster
of the Altenberg Trio and Malcolm Bilson, professor emeritus
at Cornell University. Most recently she completed a graduate
course in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague,
Netherlands, under the tutelage of Bart van Oort and Stanley
Hoogland. This year, she was also one of eight pianists from
around the world selected to take part in an exclusive Beethoven
Seminar and Master Class with Anton Kuerti at the Banff Centre
(Canada), for which she was awarded a full scholarship.
Upcoming concerts include programs for the
Grachtenfestival (NL), London School of Economics (UK), and
St. Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh. This summer, Shuann
will be recording her first CD – a selection of Beethoven
Sonatas – with the generous assistance of the Tudeley
Festival (UK). She has also been invited for a pair of concerts
to celebrate the Chopin bicentennial at the Cobbe Collection
in Surrey (UK), where she will be performing on the composer’s
own Pleyel grand piano.
last updated: June 2010
LISTEN to a few of Shuann's performances
Beethoven Concerto op.15
Live in concert
Bloomington Early Music Festival Orchestra, Conductor: Stanley
Ritchie
Instrument: K. Bakeman, after Anton Walter
circa 1790
I. Allegro
con brio
II. Largo
III. Rondo.
Allegro scherzando
Beethoven Sonata op. 13 in C minor ("Pathètique")
Live in Concert
Bloomington Early Music Festival
Instrument: K. Bakeman, after Anton Walter
circa 1790
I. Grave
- Allegro di molto e con brio
II. Adagio
cantabile
III. Rondo
- Allegro
Mendelssohn Variations
Sérieuses in D minor
Live in concert
Frederick Collection of Historical Pianos (USA)
Instrument: Bösendorfer circa 1830
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