Thaler Series to Feature Pianist Angela Cheng

Angela Cheng --- hailed by critics for her remarkable technique, tonal beauty, and musicianship --- will be this year’s guest artist in the Rachel S. Thaler Concert Pianist Series. Her free performance will take place on Monday, September 24, at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall. She will perform sonatas by Haydn and Prokofiev, the Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor, and Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. [More details]

Established in 1991 in honor of a talented pianist and longtime College supporter, the Rachel S. Thaler Concert Pianist Series has brought to campus such world-class virtuosos as Awadagin Pratt, Yefim Bronfman, Gilbert Kalish, and Garrick Ohlsson.

Cheng, who was born in Hong Kong and is now a Canadian citizen, was the first from her adopted country to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Her many other honors include the Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition in 1986 and the 1991 Medal of Excellence from the Salzburg Mozarteum for her outstanding interpretations of Mozart.

Cheng has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the symphonies of Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Boston, St. Louis, New Orleans, Honolulu, and Houston. An avid recitalist and chamber music collaborator, she has performed in such cities as New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Salzburg, Toronto, and Montreal.

The New York Times has called her "a powerful performer, technically gifted and endowed with a sensitive, romantic temperament."

Cheng received her bachelor of music degree from the Juilliard School and her master of music degree from Indiana University, where she was a student of Menahem Pressler. She is currently a member of the piano faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

For more information on the concert schedule visit the School of Music Web page at www.ithaca.edu/music.