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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 recitals at St. Cecilia's Hall of Edinburgh
(Scotland, UK), the Mendelssohn Festival Weekend in the Vredenburg
(Utrecht, Holland), and the Young Masters Performance Series
in The Hague (Holland) as well as a performance of Beethoven’s
First Concerto at the Bloomington Early Music Festival (USA)
with conductor Stanley Ritchie. Previously, an all-Beethoven
program for the Festival also garnered special praise in a concert
review: "She exhibited superb command of the instrument...suffusing
[her performance] 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. Ms.
Chai is also the grateful recipient of support from organizations
such as the Stichting Musicians Worldwide and the National Muziekinstrumenten
Fonds (NMF).
Upcoming concerts include programs for the
Aberyswyth Music Club (UK) and the Stichting Jonge Concertpianisten
(Holland) as well as a 5-concert tour in Norway as a guest artist
with the MiN-Ensemble. Shuann has also been invited for a pair
of concerts celebrating the Chopin bicentennial at the Cobbe
Collection in Surrey (UK), where she will be performing on Chopin’s
own Pleyel grand piano. In the current season Ms. Chai is also
playing 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).
last updated: January 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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