This event is produced by Barry Tan and Ruby Chang

Beethoven, Brahms, Ponce, and more: Violin & Piano Duos

Join us for an evening of chamber duo music at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music with the Assistant Principal 2nd Violinist of the Austin Symphony, Ruth Chang, and Los Angeles-based pianist and new PCM faculty member, Barry Tan. This recital features works by Beethoven, Brahms, Ponce, and Ravel. This in-person event will showcase the incredible works as they create harmonious duos with virtuosic, romantic, and impressionistic masterworks. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of live music in the heart of Pasadena, CA!

Program:

L.V. Beethoven- Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2

M. Ravel- Sonatine

J. Brahms- Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100

M. Ponce/J. Heifetz- Estrellita

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Biographies:

Korean American violinist, Dr. Ruth Chang is enjoying a versatile career as a soloist, orchestral musician, collaborator, and educator. She has performed internationally and across the United States in venues such as the Meyerson Center (Dallas, TX), Bass Performance Hall (Fort Worth, TX), Seiji Ozawa Hall (Lennox, MA), and Suntory Hall (Tokyo, Japan). She has appeared as soloist with orchestras ranging from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra to the community-based Central Texas Medical Orchestra. Recent season highlights include performances throughout the DFW metroplex, Austin, Seattle, and Massachusetts. Dr. Chang’s career has given her the opportunity to work with renowned musicians such as Emanuel Ax, James Ehnes, Andris Nelsons, Alan Gilbert, and Thomas Ades among others. An ardent chamber musician, she has worked with members of the Juilliard, Borromeo, Tokyo, and Ying String Quartets. Dr. Chang’s performances have been featured on Boston Symphony’s BSO Now, the Austin Classical Radio KMFA 89.5, and the WRR Classical Radio Station 101.1. Festival appearances include the Tanglewood Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Meadowmount School of Music. At the start of the 2022 season, Dr. Chang was appointed Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

When not performing, Dr. Chang maintains a private studio at her home in North Austin.

Born in Seattle and raised in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Chang started the violin at the age of four and holds degrees from the New England Conservatory, Indiana University, and the University of Texas at Austin.

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Remarked in the Boston Globe for his “mesmerizing performance”, Canadian pianist Dr. Barry Tan is enjoying a career as an active soloist, collaborative artist, and educator in Los Angeles, California. Most recently, Barry was a prize winner at the Vancouver International Music Competition, winning the prize for the Best Overall Performance of a Canadian work. He has performed as a soloist with the University of Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Harmonia Chamber Orchestra, the University of Southern California Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra.

In demand as a collaborative pianist in recitals, concerts, and recordings, Barry’s collaborative work has led him to various performances and recordings with instrumentalists, choral groups, and singers throughout North America, including collaborating with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been on the faculties of California Baptist University, the Montecito International Music Festival, and Pasadena Conservatory, as well as a staff pianist at the Colburn School.

In recent seasons, highlights include solo and collaborative performances throughout Los Angeles, Vancouver, Victoria, Montana, Salt Spring Island, and in Massachusetts at the Tanglewood Music Festival- where he was given the opportunity to work and study with world-renowned artists such as Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, Kiril Gerstein, Andris Nelson, and Yo-Yo Ma. He has recorded on IPR Radio WIAA 98.7FM at Interlochen’s Studio A, had featured performances with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra on the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO Now) streaming, as well as his performances in the 2021 Primrose Viola Competition as an official pianist, through the Violin Channel. This past season included performances throughout Southern California, a featured performance at the prestigious Chan Center for the Performing Arts, in Vancouver, B.C., and several collaborative appearances in Southern California, including a six-piano performance at Sofi Stadium for the opening of Wrestlemania 2023, to an audience of 90,000.

Barry recently received his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, where he was awarded the Most Outstanding Graduate in the Keyboard Studies Department.