PIANIST MELVIN CHEN IN RECITAL AT BARD COLLEGE ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 Free program features works by Chopin, Debussy, Gottschalk, Mozart, Ravel, Scarlatti, and Jennifer Higdon
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Center presents a recital by pianist Melvin Chen on Sunday, February 8. 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 Chopin's Three Nocturnes, Op. 9; Debussy's Estampes; Gottschalk's Union; Mozart's Fantasie in C minor, K475; Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales; Scarlatti's Three Selected Sonatas; and Jennifer Higdon's Secret and Glass Gardens.
"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, 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 for membership in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber Music Society Two, where he has appeared 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 a 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 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 concert by the Colorado Quartet on Sunday, March 14 at 3:00 p.m., featuring performances of George Tsontakis's String Quartet No. 3, "Corragio"; Brahms's String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor; and Bartók's String Quartet No. 3. The centennial celebration of composer Nikos Skalkottas on Wednesday, March 17, at 8:00 p.m., will feature the composer's granddaughter, violinist Eva Lindal, cellist Robert Martin, and pianist Idith Mehsulam. Cellist Garfield Moore will perform in recital on Sunday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m. "Da Capo Celebrates Bard," on Wednesday, April 21, at 8:00 p.m., will feature the Da Capo Quartet performing works by Bard faculty and alumni/ae, including the world premiere of a new quintet written for Da Capo by Harold Farberman. All concerts are 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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