Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Home  ->  Artists  ->  Bion Tsang

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Bion Tsang - Cello Cellist Bion Tsang is internationally recognized as one of the outstanding instrumentalists of his generation: among his many honors are an Avery Fisher Career Grant, an MEF Career Grant and the Bronze Medal in the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has been featured on America Online as CultureFinder’s “Star Find of the Week,” on the Internet Cello Society as “Artist of the Month,” and most recently in print in the newly published book 21st-Century Cellists. Mr. Tsang has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the New York, Moscow and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, the National, American, Pacific, Delaware and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the Taiwan National Orchestra. In recent seasons, he made solo debuts at Orchestra Hall in Chicago with Zubin Mehta and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and at the Esplanade in Boston with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. He also gave the U.S. premiere of the Enescu Symphonie Concertante, Op. 8 with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, the U.S. premiere of Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto for Cello Solo and Chamber Orchestra at Atlanta’s Symphony Hall, the Boston premiere of the Korngold Cello Concerto, Op. 37, and the world premiere of a new concerto written for him by Noam David Elkies. As a chamber musician, Mr. Tsang has collaborated with such artists as violinists Pamela Frank, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Akiko Meyers and Kyoko Takezawa, violist Michael Tree, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bassist Gary Karr and pianist Leon Fleisher. He has been a frequent guest artist of the Boston Chamber Music Society, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music International of Dallas, Da Camera of Houston, Camerata Pacifica of Los Angeles and Bargemusic in New York and performed at such festivals as Marlboro Music Festival, the Cape Cod, Tucson, Portland and Seattle Chamber Music Festivals, the Bard Festival, Bravo! Colorado, Music in the Vineyards and the Laurel Festival of the Arts, where he served as Artistic Director for ten years. Mr. Tsang’s discography includes the Kodaly works for solo cello as well as a forthcoming set of the complete Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello recorded on the 1713 “Bass of Spain” Stradivarius. In an unusual twist, he performed the Kodaly Sonata in a production of There, After… and the Bach Suites in Plaza X both by the Hong Kong City Contemporary Dance Company. He has performed all six Bach Suites in one sitting first in Austin and later in Seattle at Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. In addition, Mr. Tsang has toured the complete Beethoven works for cello and piano with pianist Anton Nel in, among other venues, the new Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall in Boston, with the latter performance recorded and commercially released on the Artek label. Artek releases Tsang’s recent performance of the Brahms Cello Sonatas and Hungarian Dances, also in Jordan Hall with Nel, in February 2010. A versatile collaborator, Mr. Tsang was featured on the soundtrack to Recapturing Cuba, a PBS documentary by Trinity Films, winning two Gold Medals—Director’s Choice and Artistic Excellence—at the Park City Film Music Festival, coincident to the Sundance Film Festival. He was also a featured guest artist on the KLRU-TV and PBS television production, A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert, filmed in Dell Hall at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, and aired nationally on PBS stations during their March 2009 pledge drives. Mr. Tsang made his professional debut at age eleven in two concerts with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. That same year he returned to perform two more concerts with Maestro Mehta and the Philharmonic. One of these performances was broadcast worldwide on the CBS Festival of Lively Arts television series. While still in his teens, he became the youngest cellist ever to receive a Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Prize and the youngest recipient ever of an Artists International Award. He was also chosen as a Finalist of the NFAA’s Arts Recognition and Talent Search and subsequently as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. At age nineteen, Tsang became the youngest cellist to win a prize in the VIII International Tchaikovsky Competition. Born in Michigan of Chinese parents, Bion Tsang began piano studies at age six and cello at age seven. The following year, he entered The Juilliard School. Tsang received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and his Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University, where he studied with Aldo Parisot. His other principal cello teachers have included Ardyth Alton, Luis Garcia-Renart, William Pleeth, Channing Robbins, and Leonard Rose. Mr. Tsang resides in Austin, TX where he is on the faculty of the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. He was the recipient of the Texas Exes Teaching Award after just his first year of service and in 2004-05 was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by the Austin Critics Table. In 2005-06 he was also visiting professor at Indiana University in Bloomington. In his spare time, Bion helps his family run the Paul J. Tsang Foundation, a nonprofit organization named in honor of Bion’s father and formed to help facilitate educational or career opportunities for promising students and professionals in the arts and sciences. He also enjoys golf, following the ups and downs of the Miami Dolphins, and especially chasing his three children: Bailey, Henry and Maia. Performances for Season 25 (current season) Concert 3 Artists who also play the Cello Carter Brey Anthony Elliott Norman Fischer Lynn Harrell Gary Hoffman Ko Iwasaki Eric Kim Jungshin Lim Lewis Hai-Ye Ni Eugene Osadchy Nathaniel Rosen Nikola Ruzevic

Gregory Allen - Piano Grand Prize winner of the 1980 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv; Second Prize at the 1978 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Atar Arad - Viola Distinguished soloist in prestigious festivals worldwide and Professor of Viola at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. Ik-Hwan Bae - Violin Winner of the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels and Concertmaster of the Hwaum Chamber Orchestra in Korea Alessio Bax - Piano Winner of the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant Jeff Bradetich - Doublebass Distinguished soloist and recording artist; Faculty member, University of North Texas Carter Brey - Cello Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra Che-Yen Chen - Viola First prize winner of the 2003 William Primrose Viola Competition and “Yuri Bashmet prize” winner of the 2003 Lionel Tertis Viola Competition. Naida Cole - Piano Pianist Naida Cole has been hailed as "a dazzling star" by Gramophone magazine. She has quickly established a reputation as an individual artist with her own unique voice. Paul Coletti - Viola Winner of the Naumberg International Competition in New York and Professor of Viola at UCLA Luba Daneman - Violin Winner of the Chamber Music Competition at the Moscow Conservatory. Susan Dubois - Viola Winner of the Tertis International Competition in England and Professor of Viola at the University of North Texas. James Dunham - Viola Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Rice University. Former Violist with the Cleveland Quartet. Anthony Elliott - Cello "His emotional communication is often profound, and his glittering, silvery tone captivates the ear." Anne Epperson - Piano Distinguished performer, recording artist, teacher and clinician. Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s School of Music. Norman Fischer - Cello Distinguished chamber music artist and professor of cello at Rice University Leon Fleisher - Piano Renowned as a pianist, conductor and teacher, now in his sixth decade before the public with the dynamic CD Two Hands. Grace Fong - Piano Praised as a "true musical colourist with enormous style and taste," an artist of "rare eloquence and grace" Roland Glassl - Viola 1st Prize Winner of the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in England and Violist in the Mandelring String Quartet in Germany Kenneth Goldsmith - Violin Professor of Violin at Rice University and Violinist of the Mirecourt Trio. He has taught on the faculties of colleges and universities throughout the United States. Yuval Gotlibovitch - Viola First prizes in 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition (U.K) and the 2004 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (U.S.A) Augustin Hadelich - Violin Winner 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Gold medal 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Jaymee Haefner - Harp Professor of Harp at the University of North Texas. Recent performances in Mexico, Moscow, and Prague. Lynn Harrell - Cello A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor, and teacher, his work throughout the world places him in the highest echelon of today’s performing artists. Gary Hoffman - Cello Internationally renowned as first North American to win the Rostropovich International Competition International Competition in Paris (1986) Yi-Jia Susanne Hou - Violin Gold Medalist, 3 International Violin Competitions: Concours Jacques Thibaud,1999; Lipizer,1999; Sarasate,1997. Nai-Yuan Hu - Violin Gold Medallist of the 1985 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels and highly distinguished concert and recording artist. Director of the Taiwan Connection Music Festival. Helen Huang - Piano Winner of Avery Fisher Career Grant and Arthur Rubinstein Prize Sung-Mi Im - Piano “Her touch, phrasing, and sense of balance were magic” Tuscan Citizen. Jun Iwasaki - Violin First prize winner of Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Los Angeles Ko Iwasaki - Cello Winner of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. Sarah Kapustin - Violin Prizewinner in many competitions and distinguished soloist and chamber musician and member of the Atlas Piano Trio. Barnabás Kelemen - Violin Barnabás Kelemen’s performances at the 2002 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) “radiated such charisma that one could almost forget that anyone else had come before.” David Kim - Violin Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra Eric Kim - Cello Received the first William Schuman Prize awarded for outstanding leadership and achievement in music from Juilliard Katalin Kokas - Viola Gold Medallist of the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition and the Joseph Szigeti International Competition in Hungary. Scott Lee - Viola Winner of a Nathan Wedeen Management Award at the 1996 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Philip Lewis - Violin Founder/Artistic Director of CMI; Professor of Violin, University of North Texas; Performs in festivals worldwide. Jungshin Lim Lewis - Cello Grand Prize Winner of the Dong-Ah International Competition in Korea and Principal Cellist with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra. Cho-Liang Lin - Violin One of the finest virtuoso violinists in the world today. Meng-Chieh Liu - Piano Performs with major orchestras world-wide; Faculty member, Curtis Institute of Music Jon Manasse - Clarinet Principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and one of the nation´s most highly sought-after wind players. Stefan Milenkovich - Violin Recognized internationally for both exceptional artistry and his life-long commitment to humanitarianism Alexandre Moutouzkine - Piano Winner of the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Spain. Jon Nakamatsu - Piano Grand Prize Winner of the 1997 Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Paul Neubauer - Viola First violist chosen to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant Hai-Ye Ni - Cello Principal Cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra Gail Niwa - Piano Gold Medalist at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition Eugene Osadchy - Cello Associate Professor of Cello at the University of North Texas; Performs in music festivals throughout the USA and Canada George Papich - Viola Director of Chamber Music at the University of North Texas and distinguished violist. Jon Kimura Parker - Piano Internationally acclaimed concert pianist and Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston Anna Polonsky - Piano Member of the Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Center Gustavo Romero - Piano Gold Medallist of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland; Professor of Piano at the University of North Texas Nathaniel Rosen - Cello Gold Medallist of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow and highly distinguished concert and recording artist. Paul Rosenthal - Violin Founder and Artistic Director of the Sitka Chamber Music Festival in Alaska, performs concerts and master classes worldwide. Nikola Ruzevic - Cello International performer and Professor of Cello, University of North Texas. Frederieke Saeijs - Violin 1st Grand Prize Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competition in Paris, France (2005). William Scharnberg - French Horn Professor of Music at the University of North Texas and Principal Hornist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society and Breckenridge Festival Orchestra André-Michel Schub - Piano Grand Prize Winner of the 1981 Van Cliburn Piano Competition and a distinguished recording artist John Scott - Clarinet Internationally-known Clarinetist; Professor of Music at the University of North Texas James Scott - Flute Flutist, distinguished soloist and Dean of the College of Music at the University of North Texas. Michael Shih - Violin Violinist Michael Shih, currently Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, has performed throughout the United States, his native Taiwan, and the rest of the world. Michael Tree - Viola One of the most widely recorded musicians in America and founding member of the Guarneri String Quartet. Bion Tsang - Cello Winner of an Avery Fisher grant and Bonze Medallist in the IX Tchaikovsky Competition. Keng-Yuen Tseng - Violin A native of Taiwan, Keng-Yuen Tseng began studying the violin at the age of five and made his performing debut at the age of seven. Ivo-Jan van der Werff - Viola Professor of Viola at Rice University and Violist with the Medici String Quartet for 24 years. William VerMeulen - French Horn Hailed as "an impeccable solo horn" by the Berlin Neue Zeit, William VerMeulen leads his generation of American Horn Soloists. Joyce Yang - Piano Silver medalist at the 2005 Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Carmit Zori - Violin Gold Medallist of the Naumberg and Leventritt International Competitions.

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