Warm Prompt:
Children under the age of six or 1.2 meters will not be admitted. Each audience should have a ticket (ID card is also needed) regardless of the age.

 

 

 

Violin: Yu-Chien Tseng
Yu-Chien (Benny) Tseng is rapidly building an international reputation as an emerging young soloist of enormous promise praised for his “grace, poise, and blistering virtuosity.”
 
Following his win at the XV International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in 2015, he has made a series of major debuts, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
 
Signed to Deutsche Grammophone in 2016, his first project, a recital disc “Reverie”, was recorded in Berlin in October 2016 and released in January 2017. His second album, recorded with Maestro Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra, featuring Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and other celebrated works by the composer, was released in November 2018.
 
A student of eminent pedagogues Aaron Rosand and Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music, Tseng previously won first prizes at the Singapore International Violin Competition, Sarasate Violin Competition in Pamplona, Spain and the Isang Yun Violin Competition in Korea.
 
After his German debut with the Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra, the critic praised his performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto: “Classically balanced without showing off; Sensitive, discreet nuances; Highly cultured sound; graceful and playful, relaxed elegance without attitude – Exemplary!”
 
Yu-Chien has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariinsky theatre Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Belgium, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Sinfonia Varsovia and many others. He has worked with Maestros such as Valery Gergiev, Jiří Bělohlávek, Esa- Pekka Salonen, Osmo Vänskä, Jacek Kaspszyk, LU Jia and most recently with Mikhail Pletnev.
 
At the Tchaikovsky Competition, his winning performances in the final round featured two of the most iconic concertos in the violin repertoire, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, attracting the attention of Maestro Valery Gergiev, who invited him to perform at the maestro’s festival in Mikkeli, Finland, as well as the White Night Festival in St. Petersburg and the Far East Festival in Vladivostok. He also performed both the Tchaikovsky and Brahms concertos with Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic on their tour to Taiwan in November 2015 and the Mozart Violin Concerto No.4 in D Major at the M360 Festival, in Munich. Tseng has frequently performed in recital in Europe, America and Asia.
 
During the 2017/18 season, Yu-Chien performed on tour with the Russian National Orchestra and Maestro Pletnev and on a North America tour with the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. After working with them on their Asia tour, he performed again with the Czech Philharmonic, in Prague, under the baton of Kahchun Wong.
 
In 2018/19 season, his last full season before his military service and the Covid outbreak, highlights included Penderecki’s Violin Concerto No.1 under the baton of Maestro Lawrence Foster as part of the composer’s 85th birthday celebrations in Warsaw, and his debut with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Budapest. He also performed with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the NDR Elbphilharmonie principals, under the baton of Tung-Chieh Chuang, and with the Tokyo Philharmonic for a five-concert engagement with Maestro Mikhail Pletnev.
 
In 2020, due to the restrictions of the pandemic, Benny was only able to give recitals and concertos in Taiwan, with orchestras such as the Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra. He participated in the Taipei Music Academy & Festival and performed with violinist Cho-Liang Lin. In addition, he has received invitations from Vienna, Austria; Brandenburg, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Singapore, Hong Kong and other regions and countries.
 
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Yu-Chien (Benny) pursued his studies in the Curtis Institute of Music from the age of 13. He plays the Antonio Stradivari 1709, ex “Viotti-Marie Hall” from the Chi-Mei Museum’s collections, on loan from the Powerchip Cultural Foundation. 
 

Piano: Pei-Yao Wang
Pei-Yao Wang made her solo piano debut at the age of eight at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. At age 12, she was invited to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with pianists Seymour Lipkin and Gary Graffman. She then continued her studies with Claude Frank, earning her Master of Music degree from Yale University, where she also pursued a concentration in architecture. Upon graduating from Yale University, she was under the tutelage of celebrated pianist Richard Goode.
 
Ms. Wang is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared with the Stamford Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic, and many others. Ms. Wang has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, Mendelssohn and Miro quartets, and with musicians such as Hilary Hahn, Cho-Liang Lin, Benny Yu- Chien Tseng, Nicola Benedetti, Mitsuko Uchida, Peter Wiley and David Soyer. She is regularly invited to perform chamber music at festivals such as Marlboro, Bard, Santa Fe, Hong Kong and Chamber Music Northwest. Ms. Wang has given concerts throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia; including  venues such as the Salle des Varietes in Monte Carlo, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, Beijing Concert hall, the Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls. A frequent guest at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, She was a former member of the Chamber Music Society.
 
As a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program, Ms. Wang has worked with noted conductor such as James Levine, Alan Gilbert, to name a few. As part of the production team at the Metropolitan Opera, the noted opera production of “Doctor Atomic” by John Adams received the Grammy Award in 2011. She has continued to expand her repertoire in Taiwan with engagements that include “Salome”, Der Ring des Nibelungen, “Turn of the screw”, “Un Ballo in Maschera”, “La Traviata” and “Tristan und Isolde” to name a few. In addition, Ms. Wang is active as a vocal pianist, having worked extensively with singers such as Sasha Cooke, Lisette Oropesa, Renata Scotto and many others.
 
In April of 2022, she performed and produced “Luminous Shadow” as part of the 2022 Weiwuying International Festival of Art.
 
Pei-Yao Wang currently teaches at National Taiwan University of Arts as visiting professor.

 
Program
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Brahms: “FAE” Sonata: Scherzo
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)
 

 

 

 

Program
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Brahms: “FAE” Sonata: Scherzo
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)