Glossary: g

Gloria Chien

Gloria Chien – China Taiwan/United States

Pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. Gloria was subsequently selected by the The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, Gloria launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters.  The following year she was appointed director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a position she held for the next decade.

In 2017, Gloria joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon in 2020. They were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.

Most recently, Gloria was named advisor of the newly launched Institute for Concert Artists at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has released two albums—Gloria Chien LIVE from the Music@Menlo LIVE label and Here With You with acclaimed clarinetist Anthony McGill on Cedille Records.

Gloria received her bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is artist-in-residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist.

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Georgia Fender

Georgia Fender

Actor Georgia Fender is happy to be based back in her hometown of Fort Worth after spending several years in New York City. A graduate of the acting program at Oklahoma City University and the Professional Musical Theatre Workshop at Circle in the Square Theatre School, she is excited to be working with the Cliburn after watching her grandmother’s lifelong volunteer efforts on behalf of this incredible organization!

She began her journey in the arts with her first ballet classes at the age of 3 and got her first “starring” role as one of three turkeys in a kindergarten Thanksgiving play. From that moment on, she was hooked. She joined a children’s choir soon after, and has been acting, singing, and dancing ever since.

As an actor, Georgia can be seen on stages locally and across the country. Some favorite credits include the role of Nurse in Romeo and Juliet (Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival); Morticia in The Addams Family and Ms. Trunchbull in Matilda (Firehouse Theatre); Lucy Van Pelt in A Charlie Brown Christmas (Palace Theatre); and as the lead singer of The Jingles Belles at Six Flags Over Texas!

Outside of theater, she works as a bridal stylist, is an active member of the Junior Women’s Club of Fort Worth, and spends most of her free time with Isabelle, her goofy German Shorthaired Pointer.

Gabriela Montero

GABRIELA MONTERO
Composer of the Commissioned Work

Gabriela Montero has been commissioned to compose a new work for the 2025 Cliburn Competition, to be performed by all 30 competitors, as well as serve as a member of the jury. This marks the third time that the composer of the commissioned work will also serve on the jury.

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

The 2023–2024 season will feature performances of her own “Latin Concerto” on an extensive U.S. tour with Mexico City’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and Carlos Miguel Prieto, as well as with the New World Symphony (Stéphane Denève), Polish National Radio Symphony (Marin Alsop), Antwerp Symphony (Elim Chan), and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Alexander Shelley), the latter with which she continues a flourishing four-year creative partnership through 2025. In May 2024, she also makes her highly anticipated return to Los Angeles to work with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Jaime Martín.

Ms. Montero’s other recent highlights include a European tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, as well as debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Minnesota Orchestra, where “Montero’s gripping performance…made a case that she might become the classical scene’s next great composer/pianist” (Star Tribune). Other recent highlights include residencies with the Sao Paolo Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony, Basel Symphony, and at the (partially COVID-disrupted) Rheingau Festival; debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, Paris’ Philharmonie and La Seine Musicale, and the London Piano Festival at King’s Place; and the launch of “Gabriela Montero at Prager,” an ongoing artistic residency established at the Prager Family Center for the Arts in Easton, Maryland.

Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, she has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras to date, including the New York, Royal Liverpool, Rotterdam, Dresden, Oslo, Vienna Radio, Naples, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestras; the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Zürcher Kammerorchester, and Academy of St Martin in the Fields; and the Yomiuri Nippon, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Baltimore, Oregon, Dallas, Vienna, Barcelona, Lucerne, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras; the Belgian National Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, and Residentie Orkest.

A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Ms. Montero is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Cologne Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Lisbon Gulbenkian Museum, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Seoul’s LG Arts Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and at the Barbican’s “Sound Unbound,” London Piano, Edinburgh, Salzburg, SettembreMusica in Milan and Turin, Enescu, Lucerne, Ravinia, Colorado, Gstaad, Saint-Denis, Violon sur le Sable, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Rheingau, Ruhr, Trondheim, Bergen, and Lugano Festivals.

An award-winning and bestselling recording artist, her most recent album, released in autumn 2019 on the Orchid Classics label, features her own “Latin Concerto” and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile. Her previous recording on Orchid Classics features Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and her first orchestral composition, Ex Patria, winning her her first Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album. Others include Bach and Beyond, which held the top spot on the Billboard Classical Charts for several months and garnered her two Echo Klassik Awards: the 2006 Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year and 2007 Award for Classical Music without Borders. In 2008, she also received a Grammy® nomination for her album Baroque, and in 2010 she released Solatino, a recording inspired by her Venezuelan homeland and devoted to works by Latin American composers.

Ms. Montero made her formal debut as a composer with Ex Patria, a tone poem designed to illustrate and protest Venezuela’s descent into lawlessness, corruption, and violence. The piece was premiered in 2011 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Her first full-length composition, Piano Concerto No. 1, the “Latin Concerto,” was first performed in 2016 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Kristjan Järvi, and subsequently recorded and filmed with the Orchestra of the Americas for the ARTE Konzert channel.

Winner of the 4th International Beethoven Award, Gabriela Montero is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. She was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015 and recognized with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela. In January 2020, she was invited to give the Dean’s Lecture at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and has spoken and performed twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration.

Born in Venezuela, she started her piano studies at age 4, making her concerto debut at age 8 in her hometown of Caracas. This led to a scholarship from the government to study privately in the United States and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne.

gabrielamontero.com

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero – VENEZUELA/UNITED STATES

In addition to serving on the jury, Gabriela Montero has been commissioned to compose a new work for the 2025 Cliburn Competition, to be performed by all 30 competitors. This marks the third time that the composer of the commissioned work will also serve on the jury.

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

The 2023–2024 season will feature performances of her own “Latin Concerto” on an extensive U.S. tour with Mexico City’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and Carlos Miguel Prieto, as well as with the New World Symphony (Stéphane Denève), Polish National Radio Symphony (Marin Alsop), Antwerp Symphony (Elim Chan), and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Alexander Shelley), the latter with which she continues a flourishing four-year creative partnership through 2025. In May 2024, she also makes her highly anticipated return to Los Angeles to work with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Jaime Martín.

Ms. Montero’s other recent highlights include a European tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, as well as debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Minnesota Orchestra, where “Montero’s gripping performance…made a case that she might become the classical scene’s next great composer/pianist” (Star Tribune). Other recent highlights include residencies with the Sao Paolo Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony, Basel Symphony, and at the (partially COVID-disrupted) Rheingau Festival; debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, Paris’ Philharmonie and La Seine Musicale, and the London Piano Festival at King’s Place; and the launch of “Gabriela Montero at Prager,” an ongoing artistic residency established at the Prager Family Center for the Arts in Easton, Maryland.

Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, she has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras to date, including the New York, Royal Liverpool, Rotterdam, Dresden, Oslo, Vienna Radio, Naples, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestras; the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Zürcher Kammerorchester, and Academy of St Martin in the Fields; and the Yomiuri Nippon, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Baltimore, Oregon, Dallas, Vienna, Barcelona, Lucerne, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras; the Belgian National Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, and Residentie Orkest.

A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Ms. Montero is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Cologne Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Lisbon Gulbenkian Museum, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Seoul’s LG Arts Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and at the Barbican’s “Sound Unbound,” London Piano, Edinburgh, Salzburg, SettembreMusica in Milan and Turin, Enescu, Lucerne, Ravinia, Colorado, Gstaad, Saint-Denis, Violon sur le Sable, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Rheingau, Ruhr, Trondheim, Bergen, and Lugano Festivals.

An award-winning and bestselling recording artist, her most recent album, released in autumn 2019 on the Orchid Classics label, features her own “Latin Concerto” and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile. Her previous recording on Orchid Classics features Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and her first orchestral composition, Ex Patria, winning her her first Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album. Others include Bach and Beyond, which held the top spot on the Billboard Classical Charts for several months and garnered her two Echo Klassik Awards: the 2006 Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year and 2007 Award for Classical Music without Borders. In 2008, she also received a Grammy® nomination for her album Baroque, and in 2010 she released Solatino, a recording inspired by her Venezuelan homeland and devoted to works by Latin American composers.

Ms. Montero made her formal debut as a composer with Ex Patria, a tone poem designed to illustrate and protest Venezuela’s descent into lawlessness, corruption, and violence. The piece was premiered in 2011 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Her first full-length composition, Piano Concerto No. 1, the “Latin Concerto,” was first performed in 2016 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Kristjan Järvi, and subsequently recorded and filmed with the Orchestra of the Americas for the ARTE Konzert channel.

Winner of the 4th International Beethoven Award, Gabriela Montero is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. She was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015 and recognized with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela. In January 2020, she was invited to give the Dean’s Lecture at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and has spoken and performed twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration.

Born in Venezuela, she started her piano studies at age 4, making her concerto debut at age 8 in her hometown of Caracas. This led to a scholarship from the government to study privately in the United States and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne.

gabrielamontero.com

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Grace Feng

GRACE FENG

United States  I  16

Grace Feng started ballet dancing when she was 3, piano when she was 4, opera singing when she was 6, and viola when she was 8. Now a sophomore at Folsom High School in California, she continues to pursue each of these passions today. She made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2016 and performed at the famed venue again two years later, has won 17 competitions in the United States, and currently studies with Ilana Vered and Carol Chuang. And she is vice president of the Pacific Institute of Music Student Honors Society, which holds benefit concerts to raise funds for local non-profits.

 

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Georgijs Osokins

Georgijs Osokins

Latvia  I  Age 27

Born into a family of pianists in Riga, Latvia, Georgijs Osokins began his studies at the age of 5 with his father, Sergejs Osokins. After 12 years at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School, he studied with Sergei Babayan at The Juilliard School in 2015, then moved to Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf to study with Georg Friedrich Schenck. He finds “consistent development” to be the hallmark of a great musician: “only when an artist fully embraces his responsibility of being the linking element between the creator and the recipient, can he start to generate art himself.”

Georgijs has performed around the world, with numerous orchestras including Taiwan Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo New City Orchestra. Recitals have taken him across Asia, North America, and Europe, with notable appearances at the Elbphilharmonie, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Lockenhaus Festival, International Piano Series in Bern/Fribourg, Salzburg Festival, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Hall, Tongyeong Hall in South Korea, Berlin Konzerthaus, and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. He often tours with Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer.

A finalist of the 2015 Chopin and 2019 Busoni Competitions, Georgijs won first prizes at the International Moscow F. Chopin, Scriabin International Competition in Paris, and Manhattan International Music Competition. He has released four commercial recordings to date, with rave reviews from Gramophone, Danish Radio, Pizzicato, and France Musique.

georgijsosokins.com

REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Round

SCRIABIN Sonata No. 9, op. 68 (“Black Mass”)
HOUGH Fanfare Toccata
CHOPIN Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, op. 58

Quarterfinal Round

BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110
CHOPIN Variations in A Major, B. 37 “Souvenir de Paganini”
LISZT Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata

Semifinal Round – Recital

BACH–BUSONI Adagio in A Minor, BWV 564
MOZART Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K. 311
TAKEMITSU Rain Tree Sketch II
CHOPIN 12 Etudes, op. 25

Semifinal Round – Mozart concerto

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503

Final Round – Concerto I

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, op. 58

Final Round – Concerto II

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23

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Georgy Tchaidze

GEORGY TCHAIDZE
2017 CLIBURN FINALIST
Cliburn Competition Semifinal Round Recital
(originally broadcast June 2, 2017)

 

PROGRAM:
SCHUMANN Waldszenen, op. 82
MEDTNER “Alla Reminiscenza” from Forgotten Melodies, op. 38
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition

ABOUT GEORGY
Lauded for his “fine sensibility and perfectly honed technique,” giving performances “of rare beauty and musical conviction,” Georgy enjoys a performance career that takes him across North America, Asia, and Europe; highlights include appearances at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, and the Verbier, Lucerne, and Toronto Summer Music Festivals. Winner of the Honens and Top of the World Competitions, he has released three recordings: an all-Schubert album; works by Medtner, Mussorgsky, and Prokofiev; and chamber music with the Cecilia String Quartet. Georgy has been artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium since 2016 and makes his home in Berlin.

GORDEN CHENG

GORDEN CHENG

AGE 41  I  SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA  I  UNITED STATES
INFORMATION SECURITY ARCHITECT

A computer science graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas, Gorden Cheng has grown a flourishing career in technology for more than 20 years, currently serving as director of information security for the Oracle Corporation in San Diego. The Chongqing, China, native is not a conservatory-trained pianist; he’s taken private lessons for many years, which has yielded fantastic results on the amateur scene, including top-three competition prizes in Chicago, Boston, Colorado Springs, Paris, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C., as well as a semifinalist finish at the last Cliburn Amateur in 2016. For him, competing is about “sharing his music with people and performing on a big stage.” Outside of these pursuits, he enjoys spending time with his wife and children, and is a huge fan of FC Barcelona and UFC.

 

Repertoire

Preliminary Round

BACH Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849
HAYDN Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50 (I)
CHOPIN Etude in B Minor, op. 25, no. 10

Semifinal Round 

BISCARDI Incantation to Desire (Tango)
SCHUBERT Fantasie in C Major, op. 15

Final Round 

TCHAIKOVSKY Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23 (III)

Angela Cheng

Angela Cheng – Canada

Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures.

During the 2019/2020 season, Ms. Cheng served as an Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra where she will perform three concertos throughout the season. Other highlights of the season included return engagements with the symphonies of Vancouver, Victoria, and Nova Scotia. In the U.S., Ms. Cheng performed with the symphonies of Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Richmond and Canton, as well as the IRIS Chamber Orchestra.

Angela Cheng has given concerts in Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the 92nd Street Y in New York. She has also performed in the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and the Sydney Opera House. She has appeared at the Verbier, Edinburgh, Miyazaki, St. Petersburg/Stars of the White Nights, and Enescu/Romania Festivals.

An avid recitalist, Angela Cheng appears regularly on recital series throughout the United States and Canada and has collaborated with numerous chamber ensembles including the Takács, Colorado, and Vogler quartets. Festival appearances have included Banff, Bravo! Vail, Chautauqua, Colorado, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla’s SummerFest, Ravinia, Vancouver, the Festival International de Lanaudière in Quebec, Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Cartegena International Music Festival in Colombia and the Schleswig-Holstein festival in Germany.

Ms. Cheng has been invited to give masterclasses throughout North America and in Asia, including the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Taichung University in Taiwan, Indiana University, University of Michigan and the University of Texas.  She has also served on the jury of many competitions, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Esther Honens International Piano Competition, Montreal International Piano Competition, William Kapell International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the American Pianists Association Competition.

Angela Cheng has been Gold Medalist of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, as well as the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Other awards include the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

A native of Hong Kong, Ms. Cheng studied extensively with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University and with Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School.  She is currently on the artist faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she was honored with the 2011-12 Excellence in Teaching Award.

pianistangelacheng.com

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Angela Cheng

Angela Cheng – Canada

Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular guest appearances with virtually every orchestra in Canada, she has performed with the symphonies of Alabama, Annapolis, Colorado, Flint, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Saint Louis, San Diego, Syracuse, and Utah, as well as the philharmonic orchestras of Buffalo, Louisiana, London, Minas Gerais/Brazil, and Israel. In June 2016, she returned to Virtuosi Concerts Winnipeg as “Poet of the Piano,” in celebration of their 25th anniversary season.

Highlights of the 2017–2018 season included return performances with the Edmonton Symphony and Vancouver Symphony, performing Ravel’s Concerto in G; Victoria Symphony, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, K. 271; and Orchestre Métropolitain/Montreal, performing Strauss’ Burleske in D Minor under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She also made her debut with the Dayton Philharmonic. In August, she made her Argentinian recital debut in Buenos Aires at the Auditorio de la Fundación Beethoven. Her performance schedule also includes extensive touring as collaborative pianist with Pinchas Zukerman and as a member of the Zukerman Trio.

Ms. Cheng made her highly acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut with the Edmonton Symphony in the spring of 2012. That summer, she also appeared at the prestigious Salzburg Festival in a recital with Pinchas Zukerman.

Angela Cheng’s collaborations with Pinchas Zukerman began in 2009, when, at his invitation, she toured both Europe and China as a member of the Zukerman Chamber Players, and as Mr. Zukerman’s collaborative pianist. She joined them again in the spring of 2010 for a U.S. tour, which included concerts at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the 92nd Street Y in New York. Subsequent seasons have seen multiple tours of Europe and South America, including performances at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and at the Schleswig-Holstein and Ravinia festivals. With Mr. Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth, as a member of the Zukerman Trio, Ms. Cheng made her debuts in 2013 at the Verbier, Edinburgh, Miyazaki, St. Petersburg/Stars of the White Nights, and Enescu/Romania Festivals. During the 2016–2017 season, the Zukerman Trio performed in Australia, Asia, Scandinavia, Europe, and the United States. Last season, Ms. Cheng performed with Mr. Zukerman and the Zukerman Trio throughout the United States, and in Australia, the Canary Islands, Germany, and South America.

An avid recitalist, Ms. Cheng appears regularly on recital series throughout the United States and Canada, and has collaborated with numerous chamber ensembles including the Takács, Colorado, and Vogler Quartets. Festival appearances have included Banff, Bravo! Vail, Chautauqua, Colorado, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla’s SummerFest, Ravinia, Vancouver, Festival International de Lanaudière in Quebec, MasterWorks Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Cartegena International Music Festival in Colombia.

Angela Cheng’s debut recording of two Mozart concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra received glowing reviews. Other CDs include Clara Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor with JoAnn Falletta and the Women’s Philharmonic for Koch International; for CBC Records, four Spanish concerti with Hans Graf and the Calgary Philharmonic; both Shostakovich concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Radio Orchestra; and a solo disc of selected works of Clara and Robert Schumann. Most recently, an all-Chopin recital CD was released by Universal Music Canada.

Ms. Cheng is a gold medalist of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, as well as the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Other awards include the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

pianistangelacheng.com

Angela Turner Wilson, soprano

Angela Turner Wilson has performed leading roles with many of the major opera houses in the United States and Canada including, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, Portland Opera, Atlanta Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Calgary Opera, Connecticut Opera, Central City Opera, and others. She was awarded the Singer of the Year for 2000 by the Washington National Opera, winner of the Central City Young Artist Award, and a grant winner from the Sullivan Foundation.

As a sought after concert soloist, Ms. Wilson has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, Binghampton Symphony, Valley Symphony, Plano Symphony, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. As a recitalist, she has been engaged by the Dallas Opera Recital Series, Cliburn at the Modern series, Abiquiu Chamber Music Series, as well as various universities and charitable foundations.

Beyond the stage, Ms. Wilson performed the role of Caroline Jefferson in the film Miss Firecracker by Cosair Productions. She is featured in the PBS performances and DVD releases of Washington National Opera’s Le Cid and La Rondine. Ms. Wilson appeared at the Clinton White House as a featured soloist for the state dinner honoring the Prime Minister of Italy and performed “God Bless America” for the George W. Bush Presidential Library dedication. Ms. Wilson currently serves as Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Voice at Texas Christian University.

Gloria Lin

Gloria Lin has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Kosciuszko Foundation, the United Nations, the Ford Center in Toronto, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and in China, France, Mexico, Peru, Japan, Spain, and Venezuela. She is a guest at international festivals in Cartagena, Colombia and in Morelia, Mexico; Cliburn at the Modern; and at the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. She has been featured on prominent national and international media, including APM’s Performance Today, WNYC’s Soundcheck, national television and radio broadcasts in Colombia, and Japan’s public television NHK.

Dr. Lin was educated at The Juilliard School, Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and Manhattan School of Music, and earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Indiana University-Bloomington. She has led master classes at Beijing’s Central Conservatory, as well as at the National Conservatory in Lima and the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Mexico, among other institutions. She currently serves on the piano and musicology faculty at the TCU School of Music in Fort Worth, Texas.

Georgy Tchaidze, piano

Possessing “fine sensibility and perfectly honed technique” (The Telegraph), St. Petersburg-native Georgy Tchaidze trained at the Moscow Conservatory and is a prizewinner at the Honens, Cleveland, and Top of the World international piano competitions. He has performed throughout Europe, North America, and Asia to great acclaim, including debuts at Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and New York’s Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. His reputation as a sensitive collaborative pianist has earned him acclaim; the Calgary Herald said of a performance with the esteemed Borodin Quartet, “Tchaidze was magnificent, matching the experienced string players note for note to produce a performance of rare beauty and musical conviction.”

Georgy Tchaidze

Georgy Tchaidze

Russia | Age 29

Georgy Tchaidze was born in St. Petersburg and earned his master’s degree at the Moscow Conservatory. He has won prizes at several competitions, including first at the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition, fourth at the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and first at the 2015 Top of the World International Piano Competition in Tromsø, Norway. Mr. Tchaidze has performed throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, including at Wigmore Hall in London, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He performed with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra under Pinchas Zukerman and with the Cleveland Orchestra with conductor Bramwell Tovey. As a chamber artist, he tours with the Cecilia and Borodin string quartets. Mr. Tchaidze has released three recordings on the Honens label: a live recording with the Cecilia String Quartet, an all-Schubert album, and a disc of works by Medtner, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev. He studies in Berlin, where his other passions include literature, cinema, and nature.

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COMPETITION REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Recital
SCARLATTI Sonata in D Minor, K. 77
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110
HAMELIN Toccata on “L’homme armé”
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C Minor, op. 33, no. 3
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C-sharp Minor, op. 33, no. 9

Quarterfinal Recital
SCHUBERT Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 935, op. 142, no. 2
SCHUBERT Impromptu in B-flat Major, D. 935, op. 142, no. 3
PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, op. 84

Semifinal Recital
SCHUMANN Waldszenen, op. 82
MEDTNER “Alla Reminiszenza” from Forgotten Melodies, op. 38
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition

Semifinal Concerto
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466

Final Round Piano Quintet
DVOŘÁK Piano Quintet in A Major, op. 81

Final Round Concerto
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, op. 26

 

Gregory Knight

Gregory Knight, 53
Software engineer
Morganton, North Carolina
United States

Gregory Knight started playing piano at age 4, under his mother’s guidance. Formal instruction began seven years later, at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, where he went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in piano performance. While in school, he participated in a master class with Guido Agosti in 1981, and placed first in the Gardner-Webb College Concerto Competition one year later. Following graduation, Mr. Knight went on to pursue a career in software engineering, yet continued to take master classes and hone his musical hobby. He looks to the Amateur Competition as a means to test his aptitude: “It gives me not only a reason to learn new, challenging repertoire, but also an opportunity to perform it for people who truly understand and appreciate piano literature.” The motorcycle buff is a father of four and grandfather of three, and has been married 18 years to his wife, Cathy.

COMPETITION REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Round
GERSHWIN-WILD   Embraceable You
BEETHOVEN   Sonata No. 7 in D Major, op. 10, no. 3: I. Presto

Quarterfinal Round
LISZT   Mephisto Waltz No. 1
LISZT   Paganini Etude No. 3 in G-sharp Minor (“La Campanella”)

Semifinal Round
CHOPIN   Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, op. 35

Final Round
BEETHOVEN   Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, op. 37: I. Allegro con brio

Gorden Cheng

Gorden Cheng, 35
Systems engineer
San Diego, California
United States

An information technology and network security executive, Gorden Cheng received a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2003 from the University of Texas at Dallas, and worked at two Dallas-area computer companies until 2004 before relocating to Southern California. He has taken private piano lessons for years, and the practice has netted results: From 2011–2015, he placed in amateur competitions in Paris (2011), Chicago (2012), Colorado Springs (2012), Warsaw (2012), Washington, D.C. (2012), and Boston (2015). Currently head of technology operations for eMolecules, Inc., Mr. Cheng calls himself a computer nerd and Internet plumber. He enjoys spending time with his wife and children and is a huge fan of FC Barcelona and UFC.

COMPETITION REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Round
SCHUMANN   Variations on the Name “Abegg,” op. 1
BRAHMS   Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G Minor, WoO 1

Quarterfinal Round
RAVEL   Jeux d’eau
CHOPIN   Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, op. 22

Semifinal Round
PROKOFIEV   “Young Juliet;” “Mercutio;” and “Montagues and Capulets” from Romeo and Juliet, op. 75
STRAVINSKY   Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka

Final Round
MOZART   Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271 (“Jeunhomme”): III. Rondo (presto)