Kyung-Wha Chung: Violin Recital

Touring with pianist Kevin Kenner, violinist Kyung-Wha Chung is performing four massive, musically diverse violin sonatas showcasing her extraordinary skill and musicality. Her acclaim began in the 1970s as Itzhak Perlman’s substitute with the London Symphony Orchestra, and since then she’s collected recognition for solo recordings, chamber music, and her teaching residency at Juilliard.

Kyung-Wha Chung is a South Korean-born violinist, who brings her renowned musicality to performances with the world’s most prestigious orchestras under the baton of conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, and Bernard Haitink. Chung has pleased millions of listeners with her powerful sound. She’s spent her career bringing audiences together to hear the limitless sound of the violin, and brings that same grandiose to Worcester.

In this rich program for violin and piano, Chung explores the personalities of the violin through many thematic voices. These four works display lush, intense, and virtuosic writing for violin, drawing the listener in with natural moments of introspection followed by passionate explosions of sound. From Schoenberg’s poignant expressivity to Debussy’s flowery drama, these works push the boundaries of solo violin listeners may be used to. This program – while delicate, lyrical, and dramatic – is inspirational, touching on four distinct types of writing for violin.