A conservatory guest recital performed by Hyejin Cho and Natalia Kazaryan, piano, who are doctoral candidates from The University of Michigan.

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Program:

Variations on the name “Abegg”, Op. 1                          Robert Schumann

Kreisleriana, Op. 16

      Äusserst bewegt

      Sehr innig

      Sehr aufgeregt

      Sehr langsam

      Sehr lebhaft

      Sehr langsam

      Sehr rasch

      Schnell und spieland

Hyejin Cho

- Intermission -

Sonata in E Major, Hob. XVI:31                                Franz Joseph Haydn

      Moderato                                                                             

      Allegretto

      Finale: Presto

Gaspard de la Nuit                                                              Maurice Ravel

      Ondine                                                                                

      Le gibet

      Scarbo

Natalia Kazaryan

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South Korean pianist Hyejin Cho began learning the piano at the age of 3, studying later at the Yewon Arts School for music prodigies and at Seoul Arts High School. Accepted with a full scholarship to Ewha Women’s University, she received a Bachelor of Music in the Department of Arts and was valedictorian of her class. After this, she earned a Master of Music and Artist Diploma in piano at Indiana University where she studied with Menahem Pressler, and she is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under the guidance of Christopher Harding.

      Cho has received top prizes in competitions, including the Ewha Women’s University concerto competition, which gave her the opportunity to play Chopin’s F Minor Concerto with the university orchestra. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts with the Chuncheon Youth Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Northern Illinois, in the Rising Artist Series at ECC Samsung Hall, and at Indiana University. In the summer of 2015, she played the Mozart G Major Concerto, K. 453, on three concerts with the Northern Illinois Chamber Orchestra, and is currently engaged in an all-Mozart Concerti project with them. Cho is also developing a Schumann piano concert series in Freeport, Illinois, to support the community.

      Cho is a founding member of Koinonia Piano Trio. Last summer the trio received funds from the University of Michigan School of Music and toured Europe including Germany, Austria, and Italy. This active trio is recording lesser known American works and forgotten trios by French composer Alexis de Castillon. 

Hailed by the New York Sun for “her prodigious ability” who “immediately establishes an atmosphere of strength and confidence,” Natalia Kazaryan commenced her studies of the piano at the age of 6 and at age 7 performed with the Tbilisi State Chamber Orchestra as a soloist. While studying at the preparatory division of the Tbilisi Music Conservatory with Alla Nakashidze, she gave concerts throughout Europe. Upon her arrival to the United States, Kazaryan began working with Logan Skelton of the University of Michigan and went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School in New York, where she studied under Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. She took top prizes in numerous international competitions, including the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition, the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition, and the Second New York Piano Competition, which has provided her with concert management.

      During Kazaryan’s studies, she became the first Juilliard student to participate in the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy exchange with the Paris Conservatoire. There, she studied piano with Michel Béroff and chamber music with Valérie Aimard. An active chamber musician, she took part in the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship, dedicated to collaboration between The Juilliard School, the Paris Conservatoire, and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Kazaryan then won both a Fulbright Grant and the Harriett Hale Woolley Scholarship to study in Paris, France. There she continued her studies under Béroff with a focus on Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus.

      From 2013 to 2015, Kazaryan studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia under the guidance of Dimitri Bashkirov. At the end of the 2014 academic year, she received the Sobresaliente Award for outstanding work and excellence from Queen Sofia of Spain.

      Kazaryan has been enjoying an active performing career across Europe. Recent performances have taken place at Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, Théatre des Variétés in Monaco, Musée Carnavalet and Salle Cortot in Paris, Auditorio Sony in Madrid, and Palazzo Tornabuoni in Florence. She also participated in the IMS Prussia Cove Master Classes in Cornwall, England. In 2012, she was the first prize winner of Concours FLAME in Paris and the second prize winner of Concours international de piano d’Ile de France. She is a winner of Astral Artists 2016 National Auditions.

      Kazaryan is currently pursuing a DMA at the University of Michigan under the guidance of Logan Skelton.