Media

HKU Cultural Management Team presents Haochen Zhang Piano Recital

19 Nov 2015

 

Date: December 12, 2015 (Saturday)
Time: 8:00PM
Venue: Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, The University of Hong Kong

“poetic temperament as much as technical power...” Boston Globe
“a combination of enchanting, sensitive lyricism and hypnotizing forcefulness” The Jerusalem Post

Haochen Zhang, a brilliant pianist with a combination of youthful exuberance and mature mastery, will be giving a recital at the Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, HKU on Saturday 12 December at 8pm.  At only 25 years of age, Haochen Zhang has already captivated audiences worldwide since his gold medal win at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. With a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity, Zhang will present an eclectic programme full of passion and insight.

This recital brings together works from five composers: Janáček, Schumann, Beethoven, Scriabin, and Ginastera, ranging from classical to post-modern. “From the dark and psychological Janáček to the extremely personal and schizophrenic Schumann; from the dramatic yet festive Beethoven to the sparkling and charming Scriabin; finally leading to the virtuous and explosive Ginestera, the audience would experience a unique journey of diving through the deep waters of emotional turmoil to the surface of waves with an satisfying release in the end”, said Haochen.

Programme
JANÁČEK               Sonata 1.X.1905, From the Street
SCHUMANN          Kreisleriana Op. 16
BEETHOVEN        Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a, Les adieux
SCRIABIN              Deux Poèmes Op. 69
SCRIABIN              Poème Op. 32, No. 1
GINASTERA          Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22

Programme Enquiries
3917 8165 | www.muse.hku.hk

Tickets
HK Ticketing outlets
31 288 288 | www.hkticketing.com

Press Photos Download
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eru2q23e5slgwyh/AADMG4XTTGaPRAWUFboCQYNha?dl=0

Media Enquiries
For more information and interview arrangements, please contact:
Ms June Lui | Manager, Cultural Management Team, HKU
Telephone: 3917 7753 | Email: junelch@hku.hk

Biography
Since his gold medal win at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, 25-year-old Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences in the United States, Europe, and Asia with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. 

Haochen returned to Fort Worth as part of the 2010–2011 Cliburn Concerts series. His performance was lauded by the Dallas Morning News as “the kind of program you’d expect from a seasoned master, served up with dazzling virtuosity where wanted and astonishing sophistication elsewhere” and hailed as one of the top 10 performances of 2010 by both the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That same season he made his debut on Boston's Celebrity Series. Boston Globe critic Matthew Guerrieri remarked that Haochen displayed “poetic temperament as much as technical power… [he is] a pianist with ample reserves of power whose imagination seems nonetheless most kindled by subtle delicacy”. In April 2013, Haochen made his debut in Munich with the Munich Philharmonic and the late maestro Lorin Maazel, followed by a sold-out tour of China. In 2014, he made his debut at the BBC Proms with Yu Long and the China Philharmonic playing Liszt Concerto No. 1. Ivan Hewitt from The Telegraph wrote: “He made the Allegretto dance with Mendelssohnian lightness and Lisztian diablerie, and played the melody of the Quasi Adagio with melting softness”. Following a performance in December 2014 with Valery Gergiev and Mariinsky Orchestra in Beijing, Mo. Gergiev immediately invited him to his Easter Festival in Moscow, Russia. In spring 2015 Haochen toured with the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai.

Highlights of the 2015/16 season include extensive recital and concerto tours in Asia with performances in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Haochen will also give recitals in Boston, Toronto and Palm Beach, among others. He will debut at La Jolla's Summerfest and tour in both recital and concerto performances throughout Spain. He made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in September, played with the National Orchestra of Mexico in October, and held an International Piano Series at Freiburg Switzerland in November. Haochen has also been appointed Artist-in-Residence with the Hangzhou Philharmonic.

Over past seasons, he has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic.  In recital Haochen has performed at Spivey Hall, La Jolla Music Society, Celebrity Series of Boston, CU Artist Series, Cliburn Concerts, Krannert Center, Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Lied Center of Kansas and UVM Lane Series, among others. International tours have taken him to cities including Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Dresden, Rome, Tivoli, Verbier, Montpellier, Helsingborg, Bogota and Belgrade. Haochen is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with colleagues such as the Shanghai String Quartet, and is frequently invited by chamber music festivals in the US.

Haochen’s performances at the Cliburn Competition were released to critical acclaim by Harmonia Mundi in 2009. He is also featured in Peter Rosen’s award-winning documentary chronicling the 2009 Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas. His complete competition performances are available on www.cliburn.tv.

Haochen is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied under Gary Graffman. He was previously trained at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shenzhen Arts School, where he was admitted in 2001 at the age of 11 to study with Professor Dan Zhaoyi.