ARTISTS

A LIFE TIME OF ACHIE VEMENT: SAR AH

CHANG, CL ASSIC AL VIOLINIST
Posted by Revelle Team on Apr 15, 2016

A s we continue to celebrate great violinists this month, our next

featured artist is one of the few professional performers to have
earned the moniker “child prodigy.” Sarah Chang’s musical gift was
recognized very early in her life, but it is her continued achievements that have
solidified her place among the world’s greatest classical violinists.

The subject of numerous interviews and feature stories, this highly sought-after
musician has been performing in a professional capacity since the age of eight.
And although she has already earned an impressive list of accolades and recorded
20 albums, her determination and drive keep her busy; and she shows no signs of
slowing down.

History and Education

Born December 10, 1980 in Philadelphia, PA, Sarah Chang was raised in New Jersey
by her South Korean parents who moved to the United States in 1979 so that her
father could earn his advanced music degree at Temple University. Chang stated
in a 2010 interview entitled “Sarah Chang is Back” with the Korea JoongAng Daily
that although she “never lived in Korea, that she “still feel[s] very strongly [that]
it’s where [her] roots are.”

At the age of four, Sarah received her first violin, and only a year later she
auditioned and was accepted to the Julliard School of Music. Her weekend music
classes quickly transitioned to working with Dorothy Delay at her studio where
Chang’s father also received his music lessons, and Hyo Kang, a faculty member at
the Yale School of Music. The instruction she absorbed during these early years
helped shape and expand her natural talent, and at age 8, she made her debut
with the New York Philharmonic. By age 10, Chang had recorded her first album,
Debut, which was released by EMI Classics in August of 1992.

Her album release, which became a best seller on the classical charts spurred her
international recognition and Chang began to tour and perform in earnest.
Graduating from High School in New Jersey in 1999, Chang returned to Julliard for
university studies with Delay. By this time, she was performing over 100 concerts
per year.

She stated for the Colorado Korean Network that, “…having a career at such an
early age kept me focused… I felt so grounded and so grateful to already know
what it was that I wanted to do with my life.” And, her career is truly impressive.

Professional Pursuits and Awards

In addition to having performed with scores of the world’s finest orchestras

including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Boston Symphony,
as well as both the Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonic, some of her most notable
recital engagements include her Carnegie Hall debut and Performances at the
Kennedy Center and Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam.

Chang has performed as a soloist for many of the world’s most celebrated
conductors, and in her capacity as a chamber musician she has worked with
Pinchas Zuckerman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Isaac Stern. In 2012 she had been with EMI
Classics for 20 years, and her latest offering, Brahms and Bruch Violin Concertos
with Kurt Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonie, was her 20th album. And
although it was received with both critical and popular acclaim, it was her 2007
recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (see her perform it here) that caused the BBC
Music Magazine to assert that “She has never made a finer recording.” Check out
what others say about this talented, beautiful lady:

“Ms. Chang was a wonder. Her full, beautiful tone, unimpeachable intonation and
restrained sincerity worked perfectly against the music around her. One heard
everything, and everything was worth hearing.”–The New York Times

“I thought Sarah Chang was the most wonderful, perfect, ideal violinist I had ever
heard.”–Lord Yehudi Menuhin

Just some of her awards over the years include:

1991, Nan PA Award, Korea’s highest prize for musical talent

1992, youngest musician to ever receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant
 1999, youngest person to ever receive the Avery Fisher Grand Prize

2004, youngest person to earn the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame Award

2006, she was named as one of Newsweek Magazine’s Twenty Top Women
on Leadership

2008, named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum

2011, she was named the U.S. Embassy’s Artistic Ambassador

Sarah Chang has truly developed her unique gift, and in doing so, creates music
that powerfully impacts those who hear it. On her website, she encourages fans to
contact her, revealing that she is “still a kid at heart… [has] no earthly idea how to
cook at all,” and that she loves to indulge herself with “concert dresses and shoes.”

Sarah Chang has earned her place as a modern master violinist. Although it can be
difficult to go from child prodigy to professional performer, this incredible artist
has made that transition with style and aplomb.

R E L AT E D P O S T S