Downtown Music at Grace Presents Piano Concertos of Beethoven and Mozart, April 10

Downtown Music at Grace proudly presents piano concertos of Beethoven and Mozart in collaboration with two young winners of the New York International Piano Competition on April 10, 2016.

The pianists, Chelsea Wang and Larry Weng, will play the Concerto No. 2 in B flat Major by Beethoven, Opus 19 and Mozart's Concerto, No. 17 in G Major, K. 453. Accompanying them will be Downtown Sinfonietta with conductor Vincent Lionti and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Chelsea Wang was awarded second prize at the 2012 Sixth New York International Piano Competition, a biennial event presented under the auspices of The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation. In addition to her cash prize, she appears on the Foundation's Young Artists Series, a program of concerts throughout New York, Connecticut and Washington D.C. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Wang has garnered national and international awards including Best Interpretation of a Bach Work at the 2010 Eastman Young Artist International Piano Competition and Best Interpretation of a Work by Franz Liszt at the 2009 Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition.

During the summer of 2011, Wang was chosen to perform in a Beethoven concerti concert with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas, performing Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto. As a prize winner of the New Orleans International Piano Institute Concerto Competition, the Des Moines Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, the Waterloo Cedar-Falls Symphony Young Artist Competition, and Fort Dodge Area Symphony Young Artist Competition, she appeared as soloist with these orchestras.

Wang performed at the 2010 and 2011 Piano Texas International Academy and Festival, formerly known as the Cliburn Piano Institute, as one of the youngest pianists. She also participated in the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Italy, Banff Piano Masterclass in Canada, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. She appeared on NPR’s radio show, “From the Top” and on Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New York and Philadelphia Public Radio.

Wang is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying with Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Upcoming performances include solo and chamber music recitals in Orford, Quebec and in venues across the US, including the Kennedy Center and Merkin Hall.

Larry Weng is a laureate of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition, the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for Young Musicians, the New York International Piano Competition, and the Kosciuzsko Foundation Chopin Competition. Cited by the New York Times for his “steely power and incisive rhythm,” Weng has been described as “an extremely sensitive musician and mature interpreter” by the New York Concert Review.

Weng has been featured in concert in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, China, Japan, Brazil and Venezuela, and has performed in many of the world’s renowned concert halls, including Boston’s Symphony Hall, New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, the Salle Cortot and the Sala Sao Paolo. He has appeared as soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony and the Boston Symphony Orchestras. His performances have also been broadcast on WQXR’s “McGraw Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase” in New York City.

In 2009, Weng graduated from the highly selective joint degree program between Columbia University and The Juilliard School with a BA in Economics and an MM in Piano Performance. He continued his studies with Boris Berman at the Yale School of Music, where he has completed the residential portion of their doctoral degree program and was awarded a Master of Musical Arts degree in May 2014.

Downtown Music, founded in 1988 and based at historic Grace Episcopal Church in White Plains, has been offering Westchester residents a rich array of concerts performed by professional musicians for 27 years. More information about this and other Downtown Music programs is available at www.DTMusic.org

Tickets: Adults: $25, Seniors: (65+) $20, Students age 25 and under (with valid ID): $15, Children ages 5-12 with parent: $5. Tickets are available at the door, by calling 914-949-0384 or online at www.DTMusic.org.

CONCERT DETAILS

Date: Sunday, April 10, 2016

Time: 5:00 PM

Program: Beethoven Concerto No. 2 in B flat Major, Opus 19 and Mozart Concerto, No. 17 in G Major, K. 453.

Downtown Music at Grace

Grace Episcopal Church

33 Church Street (Main Street at Mamaroneck Avenue)

White Plains, NY 10601

914-949-0384 www.DTMusic.org

###