PIANIST MELVIN CHEN IN RECITAL AT BARD COLLEGE ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Free program will feature Bach's Goldberg Variations and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Center will present a recital by pianist Melvin Chen on Sunday, February 23. Free and open to the public, the program begins at 3:00 p.m. in Bard's Olin Hall. Chen, professor of music and chemistry at Bard, will perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, and Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations.
"Melvin Chen is a pianist whose playing is powerful and driven," writes Allan Kozinn of the New York Times. A native of Tennessee, Chen is recognized as an important young artist, having received acclaim for performances throughout the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed at such major venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Frick Collection, the Kennedy Center, and Boston's Jordan Hall, as well as in Canada and Asia.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Chen has collaborated with Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, David Shifrin, Robert White, Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley, and members of the St. Lawrence, Mendelssohn, Miami, Orion, Borromeo, and Arditti quartets. He was selected to be a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber Music Society Two, where he has appeared with members of the Chamber Music Society in performance and educational programs for two seasons. Chen has also performed at many music festivals, including Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival; Chautauqua; Norfolk Chamber Music Festival; Chamber Music Northwest; Music From Angel Fire; and the Bard Music Festival.
Chen completed a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University and also holds double master's degrees, in piano and violin, from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Seymour Lipkin and Glenn Dicterow, respectively. He was the recipient of the U.S. Department of Education Jacob Javits Fellowship, as well as the William Petschek Piano Scholarship and the Ruth D. Rosenman Memorial Scholarship at Juilliard. Chen received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics from Yale University, where he also studied piano with Boris Berman and violin with Paul Kantor and Ida Kavafian. Upon graduation from Yale, he was awarded the New Prize by fellows of the Jonathan Edwards College.
A performer on Wynton Marsalis's series on music education, Marsalis on Music, Chen can also be heard on recordings with violinist Juliette Kang on the Discover, Nices, and KBS labels. In addition to teaching at Bard, Chen is on the piano faculty of the Yale School of Music.
Other upcoming music programs presented by The Bard Center include a piano and cello concert on Wednesday, March 5, at 8:00 p.m., featuring cellist David Calhoun with pianist Susan Walters. Piano Program with Commentary, on Sunday, March 16, at 3:00 p.m., will feature pianist Barbara Speer performing works by Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Stefan Wolpe, Copland/Bernstein (a Leonard Bernstein 85th anniversary tribute), and Herbert Sucoff (a 65th anniversary tribute). On Wednesday, April 26, at 8:00 p.m., the Colorado Quartet with pianist Melvin Chen will perform works by Beethoven, Robert Maggio, and Alfred Schnittke. Da Capo Celebrates Bard, on Friday, April 11, at 8:00 p.m., will feature the Da Capo Chamber Players performing works by Bard Music Program faculty and Bard alumni/ae. All concerts will be held in Olin Hall and are free and open to the public.
This concert is made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation at Bard College. For further information, call The Bard Center at 845-758-7425.
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(2.03.03)