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Yu-Chih Chou
Violin
Yu-Chih Chou is an active soloist, chamber musician, and teacher in Taiwan. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree from the National Taiwan Normal University, where she studied with Shu-Te Lee, Miss Chou joined the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra as the concertmistress and soloist. Miss Chou received a Master’s degree from The Boston Conservatory as a full scholarship student of David Kim in 1997. In the same year, she was awarded a three-year full scholarship and assistantship from the College-Conservatory of Music at Cincinnati, where she studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy DeLay. She was awarded scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School in 1998. She also participated in the contemporary music festival founded by Joel Hoffman with full scholarship during 1999-2001, where she worked and performed with renowned composers such as Milton Babbitt, William Bolcom, George Crumb, and Steve Reich.
After receiving her Doctoral candidacy, Miss Chou returned to Taiwan and started her performing and teaching career in 2001. She is often invited to perform in recitals and chamber concerts. Furthermore, she is also asked to judge in many competitions in Taiwan including the National Music Competitions. Miss Chou is currently a faculty member in the Tainan National University of the Arts and the music director of the acclaimed TNNUA String Orchestra. She is now working on her doctoral thesis and expected to graduate with a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in Fall 2006.
Yi-Ching Cheng
Cello
Born in Taipei, Yi-Ching Cheng was first taught and inspired by Professor Da-ou Jao and then she was taught by Professor Su-Chih Tseng and Kun-Jung Chang. During her time at Taipei Municipal Nanmen Junior High School, Zen passed the ‘Examination for Screening Gifted Students’ to go to France for study. In France, as well as studying professional music subjects, she also passed France’s entrance examination for high school students to go to university; and then studied musicology in the Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). In her professional subjects, in 1990, all the judges agreed that she should not only pass but also win the highest honours as well as be titled ‘concertiste’ of Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. In 1994, specializing in chamber music and cello, she graduated from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (Section Musique).
In performance abroad, Cheng has played in Salle Cortot, Sacré-Coeur, Théatre des Champs-Elysées, Eglise de Chaillot, etc. She also gave a performance for Radio France and her music was recorded and collected. During that period, she had done her best to promote modern music. Many times, she had played modern music which she composed, in public at the Art Lyrique in the Conservatoire de Paris. From 1991 to 1994, she taught at CNSMD-Luce, France.
In 1992, Cheng was selected as ‘Top New Arrival in the Music World’ by the National Theater Concert Hall and had her own solo performance in concert hall. In 1994, coming back and settling in Taiwan, she earned promotion and trust from many seniors in the music field. Since then, she has taken part in performances from time to time. In 1998, she and a celebrated female pianist, Lu-na Yeh, played Shui-long Ma’s capriccio together on the stage of Jieshou Hall. In the same year, Cheng also played Yao-guang Zhong’s Water of Shiaoshiang with National Symphony Orchestra in the Concert Hall. In 1996 and 2002, she was invited to play in the Philippines and for ‘Composers in Asia’ in Korea. In recent years, on many occasions, she joined in some performance with Yo-yo Ma, José Carreras, Chao-Liang Lin, and other large orchestras. Her musical working career had been mainly as assistant principal cellist for Taipei Symphony Orchestra and as deputy principal cellist for the National Symphony Orchestra.
Owing to her curiosity about music, Cheng often brings some forgotten or neglected pieces of music back to life in her concerts. She enthusiastically discovers and introduces music of the new century. Among all music performers, she becomes one of the most diversely active performers. Currently, she is an associate professor in Taipei Municipal Teachers College as well as teaching in the Graduate School of Music at Taipei National University of the Arts and Culture University.
Chin-Chuan Chang
Piano
Dr. Chin-Chuan Chang is currently a professor at the National Taipei Teachers College. As a child, he was selected as one of the student of the “gifted child program” of the Minister of Education from Taiwan to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid in Spain. During his studies in Europe, he was awarded the Second Prize of “Ciudad de Manresa” International Competition in Barcelona, Spain; the Second Prize of “Ataurfo Argenta” International Competition in Santander, Spain; and the Third Prize of “Le Muse” International Competition in Salerno, Italy.
Dr. Chang began his piano studies with his father, and later he studied with Professor Francis Wu in Taiwan. He was a prizewinner of the National Kawai piano competition, and also won First Prize at the National Taiwan piano competition in both the Children and Youth categories. When he was 14 years old, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid in Spain with the highest entrance exam score. There he studied with Professor Fernando Puchol, and won prizes in several international piano competitions, including “Marisa Montiel” in Jaen, “Maria Canal” in Barcelona. He was selected by the “Juan March” Foundation as one of the young pianists to tour Europe. Later he graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid in Spain with the highest honor.
In 1990, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and there he studied with Professor Solomon Mikowsky and Professor Donn-Alexandre Feder. During his stay in New York, he won First Prize at the Manhattan School of Music Concerto Competition, as well as several other concertos competitions, including the Manhattanville Symphony Concerto Competition and the Bergen Philharmonic Concerto Competition. After he obtained his Master of Music degree in 1993 at Manhattan School of Music, he was awarded an assistantship and full scholarship at the College-Conservatory of Music in the University of Cincinnati, where he studied with Professor William Black.
During his stay in United States, he also won the top prize of “Franz Liszt” piano competition in Los Angeles in the Category C, age 17-32, and the Best Etude prize. In 2000, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Music Arts, and returned to Taiwan. He performs extensively throughout Taiwan in all the major concert stages. Currently, not only he is a professor at the National Taipei Teachers College; he is also artist-in-resident with the NewArt artist Agency. He has been interviewed several times by the Taipei Philharmonic Radio Station. He also recorded several Public Broadcast TV programs, and is the host of the Taichung Good Family Classic Music program of the Classic Music 97.7 Radio Station.
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