MUS Talks丨The Conversation of the Muses: Sonatas for Violin and Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert
Topic: The Conversation of the Muses: Sonatas for Violin and Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert
Time & Date: 18:00, April 21 (Friday)
Speaker: Prof. Michael Tsalka (CUHK-SZ)
Special Guest: TzuTi Daniel Chang
Language: English
Host: Prof. Zhuosheng JIN (CUHK-SZ)
Venue: Lecture Room 102, Teaching Building (MUS)
Abstract
This lecture recital by Prof. Michael Tsalka, in collaboration with virtuoso violinist TzuTi Daniel Chang will explore and exemplify the evolution of the violin and clavier duo sonatas through the Baroque, Classical, and Early Romantic eras. From J. S. Bach's innovative Obbligato harpsichord and violin sonatas, to the late Grand Sonata in A Major by Franz Schubert, D.974. Repertoire by Mozart and Beethoven will also be discussed (and played).
About the Speaker
Michael Tsalka is currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the School of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. As a pianist and Early Keyboard performer, he has won numerous prizes in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America. He is a versatile musician, who performs repertoire from the early Baroque era to our days. He was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. After studies in Israel, Germany and Italy, he graduated in 2008 from Temple University (U.S.A) with a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and an M.M. in Early Keyboard Performance and Chamber Music. His mentors included Lambert Orkis, Joyce Lindorff, Harvey Wedeen, as well as Dario di Rosa, Klaus Schilde, Malcolm Bilson, David Shemer, Sandra Mangsen, and Charles Rosen.
Dr. Tsalka maintains a busy concert schedule, performing circa 110 concerts a year worldwide. Recent engagements included Hall of Central Harmony in Beijing Forbidden City, Bellas Artes Theater in Mexico City, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, St. Denis Festival in Paris, Beethoven House in Bonn, Tokyo's City Opera, National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Volksbühne in Berlin, the Jerusalem Music Centre, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the ElbPhilharmonie in Hamburg, Shanghai Concert Hall, plus live performances for radio/television stations around the globe (Chicago, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Munich, Stockholm, Helsinki, Auckland, Brussels, Geneva, London and Hong Kong, China). Together with musicologist Dr. Angélica Minero Escobar, he has prepared a critical edition of Daniel Gottlob Türk's 30 keyboard sonatas for Artaria Editions in New Zealand. Additionally, eight of his scholarly articles have been published by music journals, in Italy, the U.S.A., and the Netherlands.
He has recorded 27 critically acclaimed CDs for NAXOS, Grand Piano, Paladino, Brilliant Classics, IMI, Sheva Collection, Wirripang, and Ljud & Bild. He has performed as soloist with many orchestras, among them Sydney Consort and ThoroughBass (Sydney), Birmingham University Chamber Orchestra (U.K.), Temple University Chamber Orchestra (Philadelphia), Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra (Russia), Guatemala Symphony Orchestra, Silvestre Revueltas Chamber Orchestra (Guanajuato, Mexico), St. Louis' City Orchestra, Hermitage Festival Orchestra (St. Petersburg), Baroque Camerata (Kaohsiung), Filharmonica Orchestra (Manila). Dr. Tsalka has collaborated with musicians such as Lambert Orkis, Cynthia Roberts, Peter Sykes, Alon Sariel, and Christopher Hogwood. Many contemporary composers have dedicated works to him.
Dr. Tsalka has directed multiple festivals in China, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Finland. From 2002-2008, he taught at the Esther Boyer College of Music in Philadelphia. From 2009-2014, he taught at the Escuela Superior de Música, National Center for the Arts in Mexico City, and at Lilla Akademien, Stockholm. He has been an artist in residence at the NCMA in New Zealand (2018, 2020), and has presented over 140 master classes in academic institutions in all continents. Dr. Tsalka’s students have been accepted to prestigious institutions worldwide, and have recently won first prizes at International Piano Competitions.
About the Special Guest
Violinist TzuTi Daniel Chang first appeared as a soloist, at the age of 13, playing Paganini Violin Concerto No.1 in D major with Kaohsiung Teachers Orchestra. He has also performed concertos such as Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Glazunov with various orchestras. Enlightened by his father, TzuTi started playing violin at the age of five. His main teacher was Ray-Chou Chang.
A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, TzuTi is strongly influenced by violinists Lara Lev and Hyo Kang. He has also worked with Stephen Clapp, Joseph Lin, and Daniel Phillips. While studying at Yale, TzuTi served as concertmaster of Yale Philharmonia under the baton of Maestro Peter Oundjian. He was also a Teaching Artist, working with undergraduate students at Yale for violin lessons.
TzuTi has been to music festivals including Summit Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Great Mountain Music Festival, The Banff Center String Master Classes, Singapore International Violin Festival, and Hida-Takayama Music Festival, where he worked with world-renowned musicians such as Aaron Rosand, Ilya Kaler, Krzysztof Wegrzyn, Victor Danchenko, Alexander Trostiansky, and Takashi Shimizu. Besides, he has participated in master classes given by Ernst Kovacic, Rainer Honeck, Cho-Liang Lin, Christophe Boulier, and Ingolf Turban.
Founder of Trout Quartet in 2020, the quartet has played in a number of the major concert halls in China, such as Tianjin Grand Theater, Beijing National Library Arts Center, Jiangsu Grand Theater, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Shenzhen Poly Theater, Shenzhen Jingshan Theater, Xinghai Concert Hall, Wuxi Grand Theater, Qingdao Grand Theater, etc.
A passionate teacher, starting in 2019 TzuTi served as violin instructor and Artist in Residency at Vanke Meisha Arts Academy, and in 2022, violin teacher at The Yehudi Menuhin School Qingdao. His students have achieved great results such as offers from Eastman, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, Vanderbilt, Peabody, San Francisco Conservatory, etc.
