Dr. Sin-Hsing Tsai
The UTC Department of Performing Arts will host the Seventh Annual Piano Arts Festival and will honor the memory of Dr. Sin-Hsing Tsai, March 3-5.
Here is the schedule for the festival:
Friday, March 3, 3 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall. Collaborative and Piano Ensemble Master Class. Special guest ChoEun Lee will coach students in an eight-hand piano ensemble number as well as two accompanied vocal selections. Dr. Lee is on the faculty of Lee University and is a specialist in collaborative piano and vocal coaching. Free admission. Parking is available in lot 10, which is in the block across the street from the Fine Arts Center. Access this lot from either East 5th Street or Palmetto Street.
Friday, March 3, 7:30 p.m. in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall. UTC Music Faculty Concert. Hear accomplished instrumentalists and singers from the UTC faculty along with a tribute to Dr. Tsai by Dr. Lee Harris, Music Division chair. Performing are Monte Coulter, marimba (with guest Monte Coulter IV, clarinet); Ronda Ford, flute; Eric Hanson, double bass; Rebecca St. Goar, mezzo-soprano; Jocelyn Sanders, horn; Clint Schmitt, saxophone; Nikolasa Tejero, clarinet; David and Gigi Walters, piano duo; Perry Ward, baritone; Kenyon Wilson, tuba; collaborative pianists Sigrid Luther and Jenny Parker; and guest pianist Alan Nichols performing a composition by Jonathan McNair. Free admission.
Saturday, March 4, 7:30 p.m. Benefit Concert for the UTC Piano Program, with guest pianist Chih-Long Hu. Dr. Hu is on the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and performed piano duo concerts with Dr. Tsai. There will also be tributes to Dr. Tsai by Dr. Stuart Benkert (interim head of the Department of Performing Arts), Kelsey Huffman (former student of Dr. Tsai), Dr. Nikolasa Tejero (friend and colleague) and Sung-Ho “Andy” Tsai (brother of Dr. Tsai). A slide show will present highlights of a remarkable life. Tickets $15 ($5 for students), reception following. Tickets can be purchased the night of the concert or online through the UTC website.
Sunday, March 5, 3 p.m. Piano Extravaganza! Four concert grands on stage, with works for two, four, six and eight hands. Hear UTC students and alumni dazzle with favorites like “Dance of the Flowers,” “Variations on a Theme by Paganini,” and “Bolero.” Special guest pianists Hsin-I Guo and Patrick Rice will perform a stunning two-piano arrangement of “The Serpent’s Kiss” Rag Fantasy. The alumni performers and most of their music were selected by Dr. Tsai for this year’s event. The fourth grand piano, a Steinway D, is provided through the generosity of Summitt Pianos. Free admission.
Heard by audiences in Asia, Europe, North and South America, pianist Sin-Hsing Tsai enjoyed global success as soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. Dr. Tsai’s career took off at the age of eight when she was admitted into the prestigious government program for musically talented children in her native city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Two years later she was named one of the top 10 music students in her country and this honor was followed, among others, by the Performance Award from Jeunesses Musicales Competition (1986), Gold Medal from the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (1990), Performance Award from the 21st International Young Artists Peninsula Music Festival (1997), and Outstanding D.M.A. Graduate from the University of Southern California (2001).
In addition to her solo recitals and concerto appearances, Dr. Tsai collaborated with the finest musicians on both sides of the Atlantic. She appeared in festivals and concert series such as The Darius Milhaud Festival (Buenos Aires), Forum junger Komponisten (Hamburg), Music of Changes, Arts Alive!, and The Bellflower Concert Series (Los Angeles), and Patten Performances (Chattanooga). Dr. Tsai is credited with several world premieres of contemporary compositions and personally worked with composers from Taiwan, Russia, Germany, England, France, Cuba, Argentina, and the United States. Her performing experience extended beyond the concert hall with broadcasts in Buenos Aires, Chattanooga, and Atlanta and source music for film and theater productions in Los Angeles. Dr. Tsai can be also heard on AUR label performing Jonathan McNair’s Immensity on the Loose with saxophonist Clint Schmitt.
A recipient of the Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany and a doctoral degree from the University of Southern California, Dr. Tsai was among the best trained pianists of her generation. Her guest teaching has taken her from California to Virginia and from Minnesota to Texas. Her overseas activities included master classes at such prestigious institutions as Shanghai Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division in China, and Kangwon Arts High School and Gwangju Arts High School in Korea. Dr. Tsai was UC Foundation Associate Professor of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Prior to joining the UTC faculty in 2002, she held adjunct positions at the University of Southern California and Los Angeles City College. Dr. Sin-Hsing Tsai was a Steinway Artist. She traveled worldwide and spoke Chinese, Spanish, German and English.
A native of Taiwan, pianist Chih-Long Hu‘s performance career was launched after receiving honors including the Taipei National Concert Hall Arising Star, the Chi-Mei Artist Award, and prizes from the Mauro Monopoli International Piano Competition in Italy, the Concurs International De Piano D'Escaldes-Engordany in Andorra, the Takamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, and San Jose International Piano Competition in California.
An active performer, Dr. Hu performs extensively in Asia, Europe, and America appearing as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. His recent performance highlights include concerto performances of Rachamninov’s Paganini Rhapsody, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, solo and chamber recitals in China, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, and throughout the U.S. Dr. Hu’s performances have been broadcast in "Performance Today" through NPR stations across the country and televised in Taiwan, China and Japan. His CD albums "Formosa Caprices", “Complete Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux”, and “Trifecta Trio” have received critical acclaim. His latest album of Bach Goldberg Variations has been released under Blue Griffin Recording.
Named “Teacher of the Year” by the Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Dr. Hu is frequently invited to give lectures and master classes, as well as to judge international and national competitions. Dr. Hu is the artistic director of St. Andrews Piano Academy and Festival International (New Brunswick), as well as the New York International Piano Festival.
Dr. Hu holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Michigan, a Master's degree from Taipei National University of the Arts, and a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from National Taiwan University. His piano teachers include Arthur Greene, Hung-Kuan Chen, and Tai-Cheng Chen. Dr. Hu has served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University, and was recently appointed as Sandra G. Powell Endowed Professor of Piano at The University of Tennessee starting in fall 2016.