Piano Duo. We invite you to embark on a memorable musical journey featuring internationally acclaimed concert pianists Sharon Chang and Mateusz Borowiak. As an additional bonus, a special guest, concert pianist Dominika Gacka, will join Mr. Borowiak in a 4-hand piano duet. A special musical event not to be missed!
Sharon Chang performed prolifically in her native China and was regarded as “a rising
star” and “musically and technically refined…” (Chengdu Evening News) at the age of 8. She
won many awards such as First Prize in Sichuan Conservatory of Music Piano Competition and
Second Prize in the National Fourteen-City Young Artists Piano Competition.
In the USA, she performed extensively both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Since
2021, she has been premering the composer, Louis Pelosi’s works at the annual Merkin Hall
Concerts, and was described as one having “…keen listening, coloristic skills, and superb
control…” and “…whom impressed as worth hearing in any repertoire”(New York Concert
Review). Her playing was also regarded as “imaginative” (Earl Wild) and & “full of life” (Jacob Lateiner). Her many achievements include winning First Prize in the Tuesday Morning Music Club Competition in San Antonio, Texas, a solo appearance with Austin Civic Symphony Orchestra, and being honored by the National Association of Professional Asian American Women for her outstanding performance … high academic achievement in Music in Washington, D. C. She performed in the Gala Concert at Shandelee Music Festival, New York, and her appearance with a Trio at the International Music Academy in Marktoberdorf, Germany received high regard in local newspapers. Ms. Chang has worked and collaborated with many renowned performers and teachers such as Kyung Wha Chung(legendary violinist) and Arturo Delmoni(the Concertmaster of NYC Ballet).
As a full scholarship recipient at both Peabody Conservatory of Music and The
University of Texas at Austin, Ms. Chang received a Bachelor and Master Degrees in Piano Performance as well as a Graduate Performance Diploma. She was also accepted into the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Peabody and pursued doctoral studies. She is under the
tutelage of Seymour Bernstein and Yong Hi Moon. Her other teachers include Heasook Rhee and william Rice.
Mateusz Borowiak. “A stunning display of profound musicality and musical profundity took place in the first of Mateusz Borowiak’s epic three-recital series at Merkin Concert Hall, the venue of his US debut. When I first saw advance notice of the series, presenting the complete piano sonatas of American composer Louis Pelosi, two per recital, coupled with three of the major etude cycles—all twenty- four Chopin, all twelve Debussy, and Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39, I thought “This guy is either a foolhardy daredevil, or one of the great pianists.” After this first recital, I’m inclining to the latter.” Merkin Hall, New York Concert Review Inc., 2017.
Mateusz Borowiak, born in London to a family of musicians, spent his formative years studying piano and composition at the Junior Guildhall and Music at the University of Cambridge. Only in his early twenties did he begin studying piano full-time with Professor Andrzej Jasiński at the Academy of Music in Katowice. Despite this multifaceted education he has been very active on the performing scene, playing recitals and concertos as soloist at top venues such as Barbican
Hall, Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Salle Cortot (Paris), Gasteig (Munich), Wigmore Hall, Philharmonic Hall (St Petersburg), Auditori (Barcelona), Auditorio Nacional de Musica (Madrid), Liszt Hall (Budapest), Paul Klee Centre (Bern), Sejong Arts Center (Seoul), Merkin Hall (New York), National Centre for Performing Arts (Beijing) and Shanghai Symphony Hall; at festivals including St Petersburg International Winter Festival Arts Square, Cambridge 800th Festival, Rubinstein Piano Festival, Klassiek Leeft Meesterlijk Festival in Knokke-Heist, International Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Polish Pianist Festivals in Słupsk and the Royal Cracow Piano Festival, as well as in Austria, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
After some early competition successes he was awarded top prizes at international piano competitions including Queen Elisabeth (Brussels), Gawon International Music Society (Seoul), Maria Canals (Barcelona), Rina Sala Gallo (Monza), Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, the Royal Over-Seas League (London), as well as the Harriet Cohen Memorial Award (London). Orchestras and ensembles he has performed with include Royal Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, National Orchestra of Belgium, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Casco Phil, Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Silesian String Quartet. Conductors he has worked with include Marin Alsop, Andrey Boreyko, Edo de Waart, Hans Graf, Alan Buribayev, Michał Klauza, Joseph Swensen, Tadeusz Strugała, Aleksander Liebreich, Benjamin Haemhouts, and Gunter Neuhold, Massimiliano Caldi and Eivind Aadland.
Please register below. Registration guarantees a spot in the program. Registration does not guarantee a parking spot. The library encourages carpooling as much as possible. A shuttle bus will be available to transport the expected sizable gathering from Pound Ridge Town Park