Date & Time: Saturday August 20, 2022 at 4 p.m.
Venue: Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco
Tickets: $25 General, $20 Seniors/Students
Eventbrite Ticketing: Buy online
Health and Safety
In accordance with health and safety guidelines from the City and County of San Francisco, a face covering is required for all concerts at Incarnation Episcopal church and must be worn at all times. Face masks must completely cover nose and mouth and have ear loops or similar to hold in place. Gaiters and bandanas are not acceptable. Please click here for full details.
Program
J.S. BACH Three Cantatas for Four Hands Piano Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, BWV 147
Sheep May Safely Graze, BWV 208
Sleepers Awake, BWV 140
SCHUBERT Fantasie in F Minor, D. 940
LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, S. 244 No. 2
DEBUSSY Petite Suite, L. 65
About the Artists
Born in Los Angeles, pianist Samantha Cho is active professionally as a performer and educator.
She has recently performed on San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox series, Northwest Focus LIVE, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert, Noontime Concert Series, Old First Concert Series, Concerts at Presidio Chapel, University of Minnesota Morris, Harbor College and more.
2021-2022 highlights include solo recitals at Old First Concert Series (San Francisco) and National Christian Church (Washington DC) as well as a chamber music recital at Sunset Music & Arts (San Francisco.)
An avid chamber recitalist, Samantha has performed with members of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and Houston Symphony, and she has also performed with Kenwood Symphony as winner of the 19th Annual Master’s Concerto & Aria Competition. Her performances have been broadcast on WFMT, Classical King FM, Arte TV, KTSF 26, UChannelTV 15.5 and NBC Bay Area.
Samantha is currently a music instructor at Pierce College and Southwest College, where she teaches class piano and music appreciation courses. From 2016-2019, she has also held a prior position as pre-college chamber music coach at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In 2021, Samantha created a blog Sam Loves Mozart – where she shares her tips and inspirations along her journey as a classical pianist.
Samantha received her Bachelor of Music at Northwestern University, Master of Music at Cleveland Institute of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts at University of Minnesota. Her childhood teacher, Robert Turner, was renowned as protegee of the Lhevinnes at the Juilliard School. She continued her studies with the following teachers: Paul Schenly, Kathryn Brown, Sylvia Wang, and Alexander Braginsky.
Chinese pianist Hanqing Chang has appeared in concert venues throughout Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, U.S., and China. At the age of 10, she started performing in public. By 12, she had her first piano recital in Guiyang. She was invited to perform Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra in Beijing’s National Centre for Performing Arts. Critics praised Ms. Chang’s performance, the Jin Qian News, “Hanqing Chang’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto was bursting with Russian character and sentiment. Together with the orchestra, their musical collaboration produced music that was graceful, youthful, and brilliant. Especially for the soloist, the melody flowed from her delicate but vigorous fingers, displaying her agile technical ability. The audience was immersed in the music’s expressive atmosphere and gave her a thunderous standing ovation.”
Hanqing has won many piano competitions, including the Winner of the CCM Liszt Piano Concert Competition, Cincinnati; Audience Favorite Award 58th World Piano Competition; First Prize of the 3rd Wiesbaden International Piano Competition in Germany; Second Prize in the Asian Youth Music International Competition in Sichuan, China; First Prize of the 10th “XinHai” National Piano Competition in Sichuan, China; First Prize of the 3rd HGS National Piano Competition in Guiyang, China and the 12th Hong Kong Piano Open Competition in Hong Kong. In addition, she has performed in the master classes of renowned musicians such as Russell Sherman, Tamás Vásary, Menahem Pressler, Sergei Babayan, Menahem Pressler, Wha Kyung Byun, Dang Thai Son, Nelita True, Ann Schein, Stephen Prutsman, Boris Slutsky, Jura Margulis, Enrico Elisi, Alexander Korsantia, Ursula Oppens, Frederic Chiu, Vladimir Viardo.
Hanqing started playing piano at the age of four. After that, she started her formal music education at the Affiliated High School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, one of the most renowned conservatories in China, where she studied with Professor Li Xiumei. After six years, Hanqing graduated top of the class in 2006. Also, she distinguished herself as a student leader at a young age. She was selected as the President of the School’s Student Union in the Affiliated High School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music. She organized concerts and school functions with great success and was awarded Excellent Student Leader.
In the same year, she received an offer for a full scholarship from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. She then pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Music at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music of the National University of Singapore, where she studied with Professor Thomas Hecht. Finally, in 2010, with her outstanding academic performance, she got a Graduate Scholarship to pursue her Master’s degree in music at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She studied with Professor Yong Hi Moon.
In 2012, with her outstanding academic performance, she got an Enlight Foundation Scholarship Award for Scientist and Artist to pursue her Doctor of Music Arts degree at the College-Conservatory of Music. In 2014, while finishing her Doctor of Music Arts degree, Hanqing also pursued an Artist diploma at the same time at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Professor Awadagin Pratt.
Hanqing is also passionate about teaching. She has enjoyed ten years of teaching experience working with piano students in various settings both in the United States and in China and Singapore. In addition, she has presented public masterclasses in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guiyang, Shenyang.