Kerson Leong, Violin | Dr. Chih-Yi Chen, Piano
Sonata 32 for Piano and Violin K454, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I. Largo-Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegretto
Sonata for Piano and Violin in E minor Op. 108, Gabriel Faure
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante
III. Finale. Allegro non troppo
Sonata for Piano and Violin in A major, Cesar Franck
I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo Fantasia. Ben moderato
IV. Allegretto poco mosso
Tzigane, Maurice Ravel
Kerson Leong has been described as “not just one of Canada’s greatest violinists but one of the greatest violinists, period” (Toronto Star). Forging a unique path since his First Prize win at the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 2010, he continues to win over colleagues and audiences alike with “a mixture of spontaneity and mastery, elegance, fantasy, intensity that makes his sound recognizable from the first notes” (Le Monde).
His latest album, featuring the Britten and Bruch violin concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Patrick Hahn for Alpha Classics, was released to widespread critical acclaim, including having been awarded ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone, ‘The Strad Recommends’ by The Strad, and the ‘Choc de Classica’ by Classica as well as five-star recommendations from the Sunday Times and Diapason among others.
Recent season highlights include solo performances with such ensembles as the Royal, Oslo, Brussels, Kansai, and Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the Seattle, Singapore, Toledo, Montreal, Tucson, Bilkent, Toronto, Vancouver, Stavanger, and Wuppertal Symphony Orchestras, a tour of Sweden with the Camerata Nordica, a recital tour of the Midwestern United States, and recording John Rutter’s Visions with the composer himself and the Aurora Chamber Orchestra, after giving its world premiere in London, UK.
As a sought-after soloist, he was hand-picked by Yannick Nézet-Séguin to be his artist-in-residence with the Orchestre Métropolitain during the 18/19 season and has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall’s
Stern Auditorium, Wigmore Hall, the Auditorium du Louvre and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. As a passionate chamber musician, he has performed at such international festivals and concert series as the Verbier Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Flâneries musicales de Reims, and Bergen International Festival among others.
Passionate about pedagogy and music outreach, he has been invited to give masterclasses and teach at various festivals and universities including the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Gustav Mahler Academy, the Domaine Forget Festival Academy, the University of Ottawa, and Dalhousie University among others. Fostering a significant audience away from the concert hall as well, he is cementing his noteworthy role in reaching young people, aspiring musicians, and potential music lovers alike with his art in creative and engaging ways on social media. He is an associate artist of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, where he was mentored by Augustin Dumay.
He has always been keen on making connections between music and other fields. Ever since his dad started introducing him to physics concepts about string resonance, they have strongly influenced his playing and philosophy on sound production. Together with his dad, he has given lectures about this subject in places such as the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Barratt-Due Music Institute in Oslo, and various universities in California.
Kerson performs on the ‘ex Bohrer, Baumgartner’ Guarneri del Gesu courtesy of Canimex Inc, Drummondville (Quebec), Canada.
Dr. Chih-Yi Chen has been on the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since 2003 and has been part of the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department since its inaugural year, 2016-2017. She has also been on the faculty of the Indiana University Summer String Academy for more than two decades. Her versatile qualities as a collaborative partner, chamber musician, soloist and teacher have contributed to a distinguished career, nationally and internationally.
Dr. Chen has been performing with International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Laureates since 2003 including 2018 Gold Medalist Richard Lin. She was an official pianist for the 9th and 10th Quadrennial Competitions and was awarded special recognition at the 2018 Competition for “Best Performances” of the Beethoven and Mozart sonatas. She will serve as one of the official pianists again for the 11th Quadrennial in September 2022. Her early work with the talented young violinists of the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi directed by renowned pedagogue Mimi Zweig led to performances in France, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Japan and throughout the United States.
Among the numerous musicians with whom she has collaborated are violinists Noah Bendix-Balgley, Jaime Laredo, Andrés Cárdenes, Kyoko Takezawa, David Chan, Barnabás Kelemen, Simone Lamsma, Nai-Yuan Hu, Liviu Prunaru, Mihaela Martin, Augustin Hadelich, Clara-Jumi Kang, Soovin Kim, Susie Park, Luke Hsu, Kerson Leong and Svetlin Roussev, violists Atar Arad, Brian Chen and Masumi Per Rostad, cellists Sharon Robinson, Peter Stumpf and Bion Tsang, clarinetists James Campbell and Howard Klug, bassoonist William Ludwig and flutist Thomas Robertello. She has also performed with the Michelangelo, Pacifica, Rubens and Verona string quartets. Highlights of the 2022-2023 season include concert tours with violinists Richard Lin, Luke Hsu and Ioana Cristina Goicea, a series of performances and masterclasses in Taiwan, and a week-long festival of performing and teaching in San Juan, Argentina.
Dr. Chen has served as an adjudicator for competitions including the National Society of Arts and Letters Instrumental Competitions. As a member of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society, she was invited to present a lecture titled “Teaching Fundamental Collaborative Skills to Undergraduate Piano Performance Majors” at its annual conference CollabFest in 2021.
Born in Taipei, Dr. Chen received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University where she studied with Lev Vlasenko, and with Luba Edlina-Dubinsky, pianist of the Borodin Trio.