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Cheng2 Duo at Key City Jan. 24
Named by CBC Music as one of 2015’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, the sibling Cheng2 Duo’s is appearing at Key City Theatre on Wednesday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m.
The duo includes cellist Bryan Cheng (20), a guest soloist with numerous orchestras since his debut at age 10 in Montreal under the baton of Yuli Turovsky and first-prize winner of the 2016 National Arts Centre Bursary Competition, first-prize winner of the 2011 Canadian Music Competition, and multi-time first-prize winner at the Ontario Music Federation Association Competition alongside with the pianist Silvie Cheng (27), a recent graduate from the Manhattan School of Music in New York with a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance, and the recipient of the Roy M. Rubinstein Award for exceptional promise in piano performance.
Cheng2 Duo’s wide-ranging repertoire for the cello and piano has brought them to present recitals and performances on three continents, in notable venues throughout North America (Canada and the US), Europe (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, and Italy), and Asia (China and South Korea). They have performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Trasimeno Music Festival (Italy), Ottawa Chamberfest, Festival of the Sound, CAMMAC Festival, and Festival Pontiac Enchanté, and they have been featured several times on CBC Radio Two, as well as on Vermont Public Radio.
Silvie and Bryan Cheng have been making music together for the past 15 years. In 2011, when they were called upon to replace an injured musician for a scheduled recital in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, they officially became known as Cheng2 Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo). The duo’s New York debut was met with an enthusiastic full-house audience, as well as critical acclaim.
New York Concert Review wrote, “The New York debut recital of Bryan and Silvie Cheng was infused with a spirit of thoughtfulness and generosity. The obvious affection between the two siblings extends beyond the familial sphere into the audience, and most importantly, into the music itself.” Following that concert, Cheng2 Duo was invited back to Weill Hall for a return recital in 2013, which included the world premiere of a pair of new Canadian works written by the Juno award-winning composer Alexina Louie to another full house.
Recital highlights of 2016 include debut appearances at the Pro Musica Series in Montreal, the Friends of Port Hope Series in Port Hope, ON, and the Leith Music Festival in Leith, Ont., as well as a 13-city summer tour throughout mainland China, and a two-week fall tour in Atlantic Canada as Debut Atlantic artists.
Cheng2 Duo’s debut album recording with the German classical label AUDITE “ Violincelle francais” was released in October 2016 and was selected a one of the top eight CDs for 2017 by WCRB Boston Classical Radio.
For the Cranbrook performance the superb brother-sister duo will be sharing two sets of programs focusing on Russian music: Moscow’s Sound. Audiences will hear beloved masterworks by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky ,alongside lesser-known gems by Scriabin, Glazunov, Arensky, and more.
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