Caldwell Fine Arts 2006-2007 Season

February 6
Tuesday, 7:30 pm

$11 - $13 adult; $7 - $9 student
Upper level seats are listed first. Includes all fees.

“A star of the next generation.”

Chinese pianist Chu-Fang Huang, 23, competed with 29 other pianists from 17 countries to win first prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition in August 2005. In advance of the competition, Caldwell Fine Arts contracted with the Cleveland Competition to present their prizewinner in Jewett. (In 2000, the organization presented Antonio Pompa-Baldi, in 2002 and 2006, Roberto Plano and in 2003, Kotaro Fukuma. ) “Based upon the standard of excellence, there is no doubt that the audience will be looking forward to this recital,” according to Robyn Wells, Albertson College adjunct faculty member. Chu-Fang was also a finalist in the 2006 Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas and the subject of a TV documentary that showed her playing with the Takacs String Quartet. (Pompa-Baldi and Plano were also finalists in the Van Cliburn Competition. Sylvia Hunt, CFA Manager says, “People can appreciate the high level of these artists who are recognized in the top tier of several competitions.”)

After the Van Cliburn, Chu-Fang was selected as a First Prize Winner in the Young Concert Artists International 2006 Auditions* on January 17. There were ten finalists selected out of almost 300 applicants hailing from 40 countries. All three contests in which Chu-Fang was a winner provide cash awards and professional concert management (career development) for several years. Her schedule will be very demanding with many engagements throughout the United States and beyond. She will play two Idaho dates in 2006: August 3 with the Spokane Symphony at the Festival at Sandpoint and November 4 with the Idaho Falls Symphony. Her stop in Caldwell correlates with a Bozeman Symphony performance of Mozart’s Concerto #21 on February 2-4.

Chu-Fang began her piano study in China at the age of seven in before coming to the United States in 1998. She graduated from Curtis Institute of Music in 2004 where she was a student of Claude Frank. She is currently in the Master's of Music program at The Julliard School. “Her ability to quickly soar from delicate and sensitive phrases to bold and expressive ones is quite remarkable. Her poise and confidence belie her age.” She has made recordings on compact discs for the ALPINE, CAMUS labels, and soon on NAXOS.

* Young Concert Artists, Inc. was founded in 1961 to discover and launch the careers of “gifted” young musicians. Many of today’s greatest performers started their careers with Young Concert Artists, including Dawn Upshaw, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Eugenia Zukerman, Christopher O’Riley, Olli Mustonen, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Pinchas Zukerman, Chee-Yun, Faxil Say, the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet. The New York Times says: “It is extremely doubtful that any organization anywhere could match Young Concert Artists’ record for spotting great talent.”

www.piano.wclv.com

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Chu-Fang Huang, pianist