Wei Zhu, violin (Winner of the 2024 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition)
Hui-Chuan Chen, piano
Location: Baltimore Museum of Art
Enjoy an afternoon getting to know the artistry of one of Peabody Conservatory’s top talents. Violinist Wei Zhu, winner of the 2024 Yale Gordon Competition, has already performed at Beijing’s National Centre for Performing Arts, the Seoul Arts Center, and New York’s Carnegie Hall, as well as touring with the Sejong Soloists. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Vadim Gluzman. His recital will dazzle with artistry and virtuosity at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Venue: Baltimore Museum of Art
Suggested Donation: $10; General Seating
Wei Zhu
Violinist Wei Zhu began to study violin at an early age. When he was thirteen, Wei was accepted into the school affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 2015, Wei was admitted by The Juilliard School, where he studied with Hyo Kang and Adele Anthony to pursue the Bachelor of Music degree.
Wei entered Yale School of Music in 2019 for his Master of Music degree, followed by Master of Musical Arts Degree with Augustin Hadelich in 2021. He was the recipient of Broadus Erle prize for outstanding violinists at Yale. In 2022, Wei has been accepted to the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University to continue his study for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Vadim Gluzman.
Throughout his academic and professional career, Wei has attended masterclasses with renowned musicians like Pinchas Zukerman and Noah Bendix-Balgley. He has collaborated with notable artists such as Frank Huang, Philip Quint, and Lera Auerbach on tour. Wei has performed in prestigious venues across Asia and the United States, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Seoul Arts Center, Lotte Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. He has a rich experience in ensemble playing, having served as concertmaster for the New Juilliard Ensemble and toured with the esteemed Sejong Soloists in Korea.
Hui-Chuan Chen
Pianist Hui-Chuan Chen leads a diverse career as a concert pianist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed widely throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared in major performance venues, including Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), The Kennedy Center (Concert Hall), and the U.S. Supreme Court. She has featured at the Aspen Music Festival, The National Gallery of Art and The Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the Bargemusic Festival in New York City, The Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, the Walters Arts Museum and An Die Musik in Baltimore, and the Heifetz International Music Festival in Staunton, VA.
Chen has collaborated and toured with celebrated soloists, including Amit Peled, Marina Piccinini, Demarre McGill, Chee-Yun Kim, Jennifer Frautschi, and Robert McDuffie. She returns regularly to The Peabody Institute as a collaborator and is a long-term partner of the Washington International Competition, The National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program, and the Arts Club of Washington.
Since completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Peabody Institute, Chen is devoted to teaching and academia. She previously served as faculty for Peabody Preparatory, Washington Conservatory of Music, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Heifetz International Music Institute. She currently accompanies recitals with faculty and students at The Peabody Institute and teaches at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
For the 2024-25 season, Chen starts with the inaugural concert of her project “Standing on Giant's Shoulder” at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore. This project is dedicated to creating and discovering new meaning in classical masterworks and commissioned new compositions inspired by those works. Other performances include the Music in the Valley series at St. John’s Church in Western Run, MD with YaoGuang Zhai, Principal Clarinet at Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Bo Li, cellist from Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; “The Composers of Color Collective Symposium” at Morgan State University, with violinist Claudia Chudacoff, concert master of both the National Gallery Orchestra and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra; a debut performance at Ringwood Friends of Music with flutist Giorgio Consolati in New Jersey; and “Pianorama”, a celebration of piano ensemble pieces, performed by piano faculty and students of University of Maryland Baltimore County. Chen will also record her first CD for voice and piano featuring works by Dr. Erik Franklin in New York City.
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Violin Sonata in B minor
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
“Louange à l’éternité de Jésus”
from Quartet for the End of Time
