Anita Chang

The New York Concert Review hailed Anita Chang for her “most imaginative, fiery, and ultimately convincing account of pianism and musicianship” for her New York debut. Having performed at venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall at Abram Goodman House, and Chicago Cultural Center, Ms. Chang continues to capture the attentions of audiences and critics.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula News wrote, “Dr. Anita Chang has assayed the formidable Liszt Tarantella. Against the giant-handed Liszt’s hurtling measures, the diminutive artist more than held her own with octaval leaps, swift arpeggios and compressed intricacy that won both praise and wonder, while finding its frugal melodic gems.” The Springfield-Republican newspaper stated “she strung a liquid, wire-fine melody above the G-major ostinato, delicately clouded by prudent pedaling and approached the chordal episodes tenderly, voicing them with a chorale-like reverence. Her account of the Polonaise retained the delicacy and tender sensibility in its ornamentation, mixing with it a balanced portion of animation and thrust to bring to life the gregarious cadence of the Polish dance.”

Besides solo recitals, her orchestral engagements include soloist, performing Hummel Piano Concerto No. 3 with Long Beach Community Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Second Piano Concerto with Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Third Piano Concerto with Carons-Dominguez Symphony, and Chopin First Piano Concerto with California State University Symphony.

For her commercial recordings, Ms. Chang received raving reviews on her Chopin Ballades DVD (AIX Records). Sound and Vision magazine gives her a four-star rating and comments of “having the best piano sound of all, with great presence and natural timbre“ Classical Music Web wrote, “her piano tone and the nobility of her drama and the clarity of her phrasing, captured so brilliantly in high resolution sound, are exquisite throughout“ Audiophile Audition stated, “even though Anita Chang is not well known, her performance is first class” As winner of the Composer’s Prize in the Second Annual New Orleans International Piano Competition, Ms. Chang was awarded the CD recording contract for Jay Weigel’s Three Evocation (Albany Records 1993), which was applauded by the Fanfare magazine, “Of all the music, I was most attracted to the concise, incisive Three Evocations. Pianist Anita Chang captured the first movement’s somber demeanor, her crisper phrasing was effective.”

She is currently on the music faculty at Los Angeles Harbor College. A Taiwanese-born American pianist, Ms. Chang began her piano studies at age five and gave her debut recital at eight. She received Bachelor of Music from California State University, Fullerton, Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Texas at Austin. Her major teachers include William Race, Mack McCray, Arkady Aronov, Earle Voorhies, and Donald Gibbons.