Pianist and Eastman School of Music student Jenny Chen will perform in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March 21, at 8 p.m., as part of the Eastman Presents in New York series sponsored by the George D. and Freida B. Abraham Foundation.
Chen’s upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall features virtuosic compositions from the Romantic, Impressionistic and Modern musical eras. Chopin’s 24 Preludes, each expressing a unique emotion, are followed by Rachmaninoff’s radiant and sunny Lilacs. The cultures of Spain, France, and Russia are embraced with Liszt’s Feux follets and Rhapsodie espagnole (inspired by Liszt’s 1845 tour of Spain), Debussy’s impressionistic prelude Feux d’artifice, and the early modernism of Stravinsky’s masterpiece Pétrouchka.
As the recipient of the Eastman School of Music’s Lowry Award, Chen will be performing in memory of former Eastman School of Music Dean Douglas Lowry. Dean Lowry became the sixth head of the Eastman School in 2007 and was named the first Joan and Martin Messinger Dean in 2011. A composer, conductor, and academic leader, he resigned in 2013 for health reasons and passed away the same year. Prior to his coming to Eastman, he served as Dean at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and as Associate Dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The award bearing his name is presented each academic year to a graduate student majoring in piano, voice, or string instrument to recognize outstanding levels of performance and creativity and provide the recipient the opportunity to present a recital in a prestigious New York City concert hall.
Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and her master’s degree from Yale University. Currently, she’s pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music. Chen has performed with numerous ensembles, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
In 2015, Chen performed Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Anne-Marie McDermott and the Pacific Symphony. Her numerous honors include earning silver medals at the New York International Piano Competition and the Eastman School of Music’s Young Artists International Piano Competition as well as the Henk de By Incentive Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in the Netherlands.
Tickets for Eastman Presents Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall are $30 for general public or $15 Student/Senior. Tickets can be purchased at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, at 57th and seventh in New York City.; by phone (212) 247-7800; or online at https://www.carnegiehall.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division—about 550 undergraduate and 350 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 percent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Six alumni and three faculty members have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and numerous alumni and faculty have received Grammy Awards. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 800 concerts to the Rochester community.