August 5, 2005
Friday, 7 PM
(pre-concert talk 6:15 PM)
Mr. Hung-Kuan Chen, piano
Back in the 80s, Apollo and Dionysus,
Florestan and Eusebius, were at war in Chens pianistic personality. He could play
with poetic insight, he could also erupt into an almost terrifying overdrive. But now
there is the repose and the forces have been brought into complimentary harmony. ....This
man plays music with uncommon understanding and the instrument with uncommon
imagination! Richard Dyer, Boston Globe. (January 1999)
Mr. Hung-Kuan Chen is probably the most decorated pianist in Boston. He won the Gold
Medals both in Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel and the
Feruccio Busoni International Piano Competitions in Italy. He gathered prizes in Geza
Anda, the Queen Elisabeth and the Chopin competitions and when the New York Times failed
to cover Chens Alice Tully debut, after winning Young Concert Artists, Ruth Laredo
in another NY publication exclaimed, rarely have I heard such eloquence and musical
understanding. Is anyone listening?
A true recitalist, he has performed in major venues worldwide. In New York at Carnegie and
Merkin Halls, Davis Hall in San Francisco, Jordan, Symphony and Sanders Theatres in
Boston. In Europe Mr. Chen performed at the Hercules Saal, Salla Verdi Milan. He has
played in halls in Bejing, Tapei, Japan, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Munich, Zurich, and
in many cities in
Canada. He has performed the complete Beethoven Sonata cycle, the Chopin Preludes &
Etudes in recital and recorded under the BMG label. He has collaborated with such
conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Andrew Parrett, George Cleve, Becker, Yuav Talmi, Uri
Segal, Silverstein, Sui Lan, and Hans Graf and Henry Mazer, Mr. Chen has been a soloist
with orchestras such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston, Grant Park, Colorado, Montreal,
Tonhalle, Jerusalem, and the Israel Symphony.
Hung-Kuan Chen believes in making music with others and has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma,
Jimmy Lin, Anthony Gigliotti, Lawrence Lesser, Pi-hsien Chen, Peter Eotvos, Anthony
diBonaventura. He formed a piano duo with pianist Tema Blackstone and has worked with the
Tokyo String Quartet, the Shanghai String Quartet, and many others.
As a pedagogue, he has inspired a studio of international caliber. He taught at Boston
University since 1984, himself just 25 years old. A faculty member of New England
Conservatory and Walnut Hill since 1993, he is also very involved with the Music Bridge
program in China where he helps choose brilliant young students to come study in Canada,
where he is presently based, as artist in residence at Mount Royal Conservatory and
University of Calgary. Mr. Chen will be the Chairman of the Piano Department, Shanghai
Conservatory of Music beginning September of 2005.
Program:
Mozart: Rondo in A minor KV. 511
Schubert: Sonata in C minor D.958
Allegro
Adagio
Menuetto Allegro
Allegro
Intermission
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
Summer Music Festival