
Angela Cheng
PIANIST
“Angela Cheng is quite simply one of the best Mozart concerto players around: her sound is invariably transparent and marked by delicacy of feeling. That it always carries, even in a large hall like the Orpheum, is a bit of inexplicable magic.”
VANCOUVER SYMPHONY
VANCOUVER SUN
BIOGRAPHY
Praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular appearances with every major orchestra in Canada, she has performed with the American symphonies of Buffalo, Colorado, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisiana, Rhode Island, San Diego, Saint Louis, and Utah, as well as internationally with London, Israel, and Brazil’s Minas Gerais. Recent and upcoming engagements include the symphonies of Richmond, Akron, Regina, Kingston, Saskatoon, and Victoria, as well as the Vancouver Recital Society's Brahms Festival, Vetta Chamber Music, and ArtSpring, among many others. Angela Cheng has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, 92nd Street Y, and Wigmore Hall. She has also appeared at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and the Sydney Opera House. Festival appearances include Verbier, Edinburgh, Miyazaki, Stars of the White Nights in St. Petersburg, and the George Enescu Festival in Romania. Ms. Cheng regularly appears in recitals throughout the United States and Canada. North American festival performances include Banff, Chautauqua, Colorado, Great Lakes Chamber Music, Vancouver, Toronto, and Quebec’s Festival International de Lanaudière. An active chamber musician, she was a member of the Zukerman Trio and Chamber Players for nearly a decade, performing with the ensembles and as Pinchas Zukerman’s collaborative pianist in many national and international tours. She continues to perform with her husband, pianist Alvin Chow, and with numerous ensembles and chamber societies, including the Takács, Colorado, and Vogler quartets. Ms. Cheng teaches masterclasses at North American and Asian institutions, including Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Taiwan’s Taichung University, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, Music Institute of Chicago, and the University of Texas, to name a few. She has served on the jury of many competitions, including the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, Esther Honens International Piano Competition, Montreal International Piano Competition, and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, among others. Angela Cheng was the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Other awards include third prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant, and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. A native of Hong Kong, Ms. Cheng studied extensively with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University as well as Sascha Gorodnitzki at The Juilliard School. She is currently on the artist faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she was honored with the 2011-12 Excellence in Teaching Award.
MEDIA






PRESS ACCLAIM
VANCOUVER SYMPHONY
“Angela Cheng is quite simply one of the best Mozart concerto players around: her sound is invariably transparent and marked by delicacy of feeling. That it always carries, even in a large hall like the Orpheum, is a bit of inexplicable magic.”
VANCOUVER SUN
NEWFOUNDLAND SYMPHONY
“I have seldom seen a soloist so well prepared, so integrated into a concerto as Cheng… Moreover, she made the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 look easy, as she effortlessly and accurately played chordal passages at high speed… [She] gave great definition to the work, shaping each phrase, lending it color, taking their time with the cadences.”
THE TELEGRAM (St. John’s, Canada)
PACIFIC SYMPHONY
“Cheng proved a marvelous technician and stylist. [She] fully comprehended the jazz rhythms and accents and put them across with equal parts verve and clarity. She skimmed a gliding legato, jabbed at offbeat entrances, had a bounce in her step." [Gershwin Piano Concerto in F]
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (Costa Mesa)
LOUISIANA PHILHARMONIC
“[Angela Cheng’s] lofty transcendent account of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor deserved some kind of medal … offering a performance that let one forget her virtuosity and hear Schumann’s masterpiece as a brilliant dance between soloist and orchestra.”
TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans)
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY
“The opening Allegro maestoso immediately showcased Cheng's sparkling runs and rhythmic vitality. Her projected tone reached the very back of the hall … her fiery solo cadenza provided a real taste of her bravura… Cheng's clearly articulated playing, and strong conviction with every note tidily in place led to a standing ovation with two curtain calls." [Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25]
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
TORONTO RECITAL
“More important is the musical evidence that [Cheng] is now speaking not with the voice of generic virtuosity and conventional received wisdom, but with her own voice, about individual works in which she is passionately and artistically involved… It was enthralling.”
GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto)
REPERTOIRE LIST
ALBÉNIZ
Spanish Rhapsody
BEETHOVEN
All concerti
BRAHMS
Concerto No. 1
CHOPIN
Concerti Nos. 1 and 2
Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise
de FALLA
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
GERSHWIN
Concerto in F
Rhapsody in Blue
GRIEG
Concerto
HAYDN
Concerto in D
LISZT
Concerto No. 1
MENDELSSOHN
Concerto No. 1
MONTSALVATGE
Concerto Breve
MOZART
All concerti
RACHMANINOFF
Concerti Nos. 1, 2 and 3
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
RAVEL
Concerto in G
SAINT-SAËNS
Concerti Nos. 2, 4 and 5
Carnival of the Animals
SCHUMANN, C.
Concerto
SCHUMANN, R.
Concerto
Introduction and Allegro
SHOSTAKOVICH
Concerti Nos. 1 and 2
STRAUSS
Burleske in D Minor
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto No. 1
TOWER
Rapids
TURINA
Rapsodia Sinfónica
DISCOGRAPHY
Three Pianists
BRAHMS Hungarian Dances Nos. 1-5
GRIEG/MOZART Sonata in C major, for 4 hands, 2 pianos, K 545
MILHAUD Scaramouche, Op. 165b
CORIGLIANO Gazebo Dance
BIZET Carmen excerpt
BERNSTEIN West Side Story Medley
Alan Chow, piano
Alvin Chow, piano
Airola Classics / Arioso • 2011
Shostakovich: Overcoat - Music for the Film
Piano Concerti Nos. 1 and 2
Jens Lindemann, trumpet
CBC Radio Orchestra
Mario Bernardi, conductor
CBC Records • 2010
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
ALBÉNIZ Rapsodia Espanola
TURINA Rapsodia Sinfonica
DE FALLA Noches en los jardines de Espana
MONTSALVATGE Concierto Breve
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
Hans Graf, conductor
CBC Records • 1999
Piano Music of Clara & Robert Schumann
R SCHUMANN Arabeske for piano in C major, Op. 18
C SCHUMANN Scherzo for piano No. 1 in D minor, Op. 10
C SCHUMANN Pièces Fugitives (4), for piano, Op. 15
C SCHUMANN Preludes and Fugues (3) for piano, Op. 16
R SCHUMANN Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor ("Concerto Without Orchestra"), Op. 14
C SCHUMANN Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, for piano in F sharp minor, Op. 20
R SCHUMANN Faschingsschwank aus Wien ("Phantasiebilder"), for piano, Op. 26
CBC Records • 1996
The Women's Philharmonic
C SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7
The Women's Philharmonic
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Koch International Classics • 1992
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 17
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-Flat Major, K. 271, "Jeunehomme"
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453
CBC Vancouver Orchestra
Mario Bernardi, conductor
CBC Records • 1991
CHOPIN
Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61
Preludes, Op. 28
Grande Polonaise brillante in E-flat major with preceding Andante spianato in G major, Op. 22
Universal Music Canada

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