Violinist Elizabeth Chang and pianist Jiayan Sun present some of the most celebrated works of the genre, including the well-known “Spring” and “Kreutzer” sonatas.

Program:
Sonatas Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Jiayan Sun, piano

Praised by the New York Times for his “revelatory” performances, pianist Jiayan Sun has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Chinese and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestras, the Fort Worth and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, the Toronto and Aspen Concert Orchestras, and the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to capturing major prizes in the Leeds, Cleveland, Dublin, and Toronto international piano competitions, playing early keyboard instruments and studying historical performance practice have played a significant role in Mr. Sun’s musical activities, with critically acclaimed appearances with the American Classical Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.

Hailing from Yantai, China, Mr. Sun received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Stephen Hough. Currently Assistant Professor of Music and the Associate Chair for Performance Activities at Smith College, he performed Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in chronological order in a series of eight recitals, in addition to presenting recital series devoted to the works of Schubert and Chopin.

Elizabeth Chang, violin

Elizabeth Chang, violinist and Artistic Director of Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, enjoys a varied career as performer, teacher, and arts administrator. She is currently Professor of Violin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a faculty member of the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School; previously she served on the faculties of Rutgers and New York University.

Ms. Chang has embraced leadership roles in the arts community as founder and director/co-director of the Lighthouse Chamber Players, Five College New Music Festival, UMass Amherst Bach Festival and Symposium, and Long River Concerts, among other projects. She has an active chamber music career, collaborating with some of the most prominent artists in the field, and has appeared as soloist, chamber musician and master class teacher in South America, Europe, and Asia. In 2021, Ms. Chang released the critically acclaimed CD Transformations: Works by Kirchner, Sessions, and Schoenberg with Albany Records. A native New Yorker, Ms. Chang is a graduate of Harvard University and was the recipient of the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Award. She was a student of Louise Behrend, Joseph Fuchs, Roman Totenberg, Max Rostal, Leon Kirchner and Luise Vosgerchian.