NATCHITOCHES – Pianist Angela Cheng will perform at Northwestern State University on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The concert is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $15. Students are admitted free. Dr. Francis Yang and Dr. Christine Burczyk Allen are the organizers of the Louisiana Piano Series International.
The concert is co-sponsored by the Louisiana Music Teachers Association, which is holding its 66th Annual State Convention and Music Teachers National Association state-level competitions at NSU on Oct. 25 – 27.
Cheng, a professor of piano at Oberlin College and Conservatory, has appeared as a soloist with more than 100 orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the symphonies of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, St. Louis, Houston, San Diego, Indianapolis, Syracuse, Utah and Colorado.
An avid recitalist, Cheng has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout North America, Asia and Europe, including New York City (Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the 92nd Street Y), Wigmore Hall in London, Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as venues in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Montreal, Toronto, Taiwan, Italy and Australia. In 2012, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony.
In 2009, at the invitation of Pinchas Zukerman, Cheng toured Europe and China with the Zukerman Chamber Players. She joined them again in the spring of 2010 for a U.S. tour, which included concerts at Kennedy Center and the 92nd Street Y in New York. Subsequent seasons have seen multiple tours of Europe and South America, including performances in Paris, London, Prague, Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier and Ravinia festivals.
Cheng has been invited to give master classes 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, the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. She has served on the jury of numerous competitions.
MTNA NSU Collegiate Chapter members will present poster sessions on their community activities, their graduate study research and some will also get the opportunity to play for Angela Cheng in a masterclass. Those performing will be Robyn Tan of Singapore, Cara Lamb of Shreveport, Shihuan Wang of Loudi, China, Ramon Barralaga of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Claudia Musgrove of Forest Hill, Valentina Perez Espinoza and Natalia Yonoff Zapata of Cartagena, Colombia and Matthew Aguilera of San Antonio, Texas.
Emily Owens, violinist, a student of Andrej Kurti, and Barralaga, pianist, a student of Yang, will compete in the state level of the Music Teachers National Association Competition.
Yang serves as president-elect of LMTA and Allen serves as chair of collegiate chapters. Chialing Hsieh serves as coordinator of the MTNA Young Artist/Chamber Music Competitions. The Cenla Music Teachers Association is the local chapter host.
