The 27th Annual Music Festival at Walnut Hill
胡桃山音樂營
July 19 to
August 12, 2018
Concerts
and Master Classes
Admission free.
Suggested Donation $5 at door
Ludwig van Beethoven: 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli,
Op. 120
Theme: Vivace
Variation 1: Alla marcia maestoso
Variation 2: Poco allegro
Variation 3: L’istesso tempo
Variation 4: Un poco più vivace
Variation 5: Allegro vivace
Variation 6: Allegro ma non troppo e serioso
Variation 7: Un poco più allegro
Variation 8: Poco vivace
Variation 9: Allegro pesante e risoluto
Variation 10: Presto
Variation 11: Allegretto
Variation 12: Un poco più moto
Variation 13: Vivace
Variation 14: Grave e maestoso
Variation 15: Presto scherzando
Variation 16: Allegro
Variation 17: Allegro
Variation 18: Poco moderato
Variation 19: Presto
Variation 20: Andante
Variation 21: Allegro con brio – Meno allegro – Tempo primo
Variation 22: Allegro molto, alla « Notte e giorno faticar » di
Mozart
Variation 23: Allegro assai
Variation 24: Fughetta (Andante)
Variation 25: Allegro
Variation 26: (Piacevole)
Variation 27: Vivace
Variation 28: Allegro
Variation 29: Adagio ma non troppo
Variation 30: Andante, sempre cantabile
Variation 31: Largo, molto espressivo
Variation 32: Fuga: Allegro
Variation 33: Tempo di Menuetto moderato
—Intermission—
Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini Op. 35
Steinway piano provided by M. Steinert & Sons
Meet The Artists
Hung-Kuan Chen
陳宏寬, Pianist
"This
man plays music with uncommon understanding and the instrument
with uncommon imagination."
– Richard Dyer,
Boston Globe
“Pianist
Hung-Kuan Chen’s career - as well as his life -- has been a vivid
example of the concept of yin-and-yang. In that Chinese philosophy,
apparent opposites are actually complementary: each fulfills a need
in the other; one cannot exist without the other. Mr. Chen embodies
a synthesis of seeming opposites that coalesce into a unique artistic
personality.
Hung-Kuan Chen was born in Taipei and raised in Germany. He established
a bold connection to Germanic Classicism in his early studies
which he integrated with the sensibility of organic Chinese philosophy.
“I’m Chinese by birth,” he says, “but I’m actually more European.
I’ve read and studied a tremendous amount of the great literature
and language of Germany.”
One of the most honored pianists of his generation, Mr. Chen won
top prizes in the Arthur Rubinstein, Busoni, and Geza Anda International
Piano Competitions, and in the Young Concert Artists International
Piano Auditions. He also won prizes in the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal
International Musical and Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions,
as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Mr. Chen has performed in many of the world’s foremost concert venues,
including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington,
D.C., Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, the Tonhalle in Zürich,
the Herkulesaal in Munich, the Sala Verdi in Milan, Suntory Hall
in Tokyo,
National Concert Hall in Taipei, Shanghai Concert Hall and the Forbidden
City Concert Hall in Beijing. He was the first to perform the Rachmaninoff
Third and Beethoven Fourth Piano Concertos in Taipei, and gave the
Shanghai premiere of the Bartók Second Piano Concerto. His plans
for the 2015-2016 season include solo and orchestral performances
in China and Switzerland, in Boston, and at Aspen and Yale. He is
also preparing new recordings to be made in Switzerland in 2016.
Hung-Kuan Chen has enjoyed fruitful artistic collaborations with,
among others, Christoph Eschenbach, Hans Graf, George Cleve, Joseph
Silverstein, David Shifrin, Roman Totenberg, ChoLiang Lin, the Shanghai
Quartet, Sui Lan and Andrew Parrott. His most meaningful artistic
partnership is with his wife, Tema Blackstone, with whom he frequently
performs as a piano duo.
Hundreds of students worldwide have benefitted from Hung-Kuan Chen’s
knowledge and love of music. “Teaching and performing complement
each other,” he declares. “Teaching is sharing, and by sharing,
our search continues in a more objective way. When I share, I become
the beneficiary of the results of the investigation and the continued
questioning. This benefits my playing, as I’m often coming up with
new ideas and insights.”
Mr. Chen is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School and
is a visiting professor at Yale, and is also on the faculty for
Artemisia Akademie at Yale. He previously served as Chair of the
piano department of Shanghai Conservatory, and was on the faculty
of New England Conservatory. He has adjudicated prominent international
piano competitions such as the Van Cliburn, Busoni, Shanghai, and
Honens. His 2015 summer teaching engagements included the Chinese
Foundation for the Arts, Piano
Summer Institute in New Paltz, International Music Akademie in Lichtenstein
and Aspen Music Festival. Among notable pianists he has taught or
coached are Yuja Wang, Sean Chen and Niu Niu.
In 1992, Hung-Kuan Chen suffered a hand injury which caused neurological
damage and eventually resulted in focal dystonia. Through meditation
and his own unique research, he was able to heal and return to his
life as a concert artist. His first post-accident solo recital in
1998 received rave reviews and he was described as a transformed
artist.
Mr. Chen addresses his extraordinary journey in these terms: “What
gave me the drive and courage to find a cure? On one side was the
curiosity about the human body, awareness and consciousness; and
on the other, my desire to continue my art. This was the biggest
learning curve I had ever encountered. It meant having to detach
from ego and ambition. It taught me to embrace all that comes to
me and be extremely grateful…to notice the tiny things - those details
which create a full life and are often missed by most people. To
be ‘in the moment’ sounds clichéd but is not. And as part of the
search for meaning, the joy of being able to play again - that was
a true miracle.”
A many-faceted individual, Hung-Kuan has painted and drawn, danced,
and played several other instruments. He is a serious chef, bakes
his own bread and homebrews beer. He is an artisan of home improvement,
a skilled woodworker and an electronics whiz. He is a meticulous
piano tuner, a knowledgeable jazz enthusiast, and an avid hiker.
He brings the same level of curiosity and dedication to both spiritual
and worldly pursuits.
(2016)
Thank you
for your generous contribution to
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts
updated 2018