The CBC had already done a documentary on him. By the time Lisiecki was 15, he had already been dubbed “the aristocrat of the piano” by the press and maintained a hectic schedule of international concerts. So it may be tempting to lump Lisiecki and Chen together as Calgary’s best-known child prodigies.īut Engle says their career arcs have been and will likely continue to be different. He plays more than 100 shows a year around the world and has released a number of albums with Deutsche Grammophon that have him interpreting the work of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Chopin, including this year’s Frederic Chopin: Complete Nocturnes. Now 26, Lisiecki has been the toast of the classical music world for more than a decade. Postmedia files Photo by Ted Jacob / Calgary HeraldĮngle, herself a prodigy who studied at the Juilliard School in New York in the 1960s, also taught Jan Lisiecki briefly when the Calgary-born classical pianist was a teenager. Engle says Calgary has a rich history of producing classical musicians. “People were astonished as they should have been.” Marilyn Engle preparing for a recital at Rozsa Centre in 2010. “He just created a sensation in Budapest and online,” she says. The win in Hungary has certainly boosted his profile. “I’m not too sure yet.”įor Engle, it goes without saying that Chen’s future is bright no matter what he decides. “There are a lot of possibilities,” he says. Does he see himself as more of a composer or a concert pianist? Does he want to teach? At 16, he says he has decided that music will be his future, but he hasn’t decided on what that will exactly entail. He says he is currently looking into schools in Canada, the United States and Europe for future musical study although says it’s too early to reveal which ones.
His win in Budapest will lead to performing engagements in that city, including one in February. He spends three hours a day practising piano, something he views as fairly modest compared to others. Scarlett High School student is currently busy caching up on his schoolwork. After returning home from his 12-day adventure in Budapest, the Grade 11 Dr. Soft-spoken and laconic in conversation, Chen doesn’t reveal too many details about his near future. At least not any that he is willing to share with the press. Still, if Chen is at a crossroads, he hasn’t made any major life decisions about his future in the world of classical music. Let’s try that.” Piano prodigy Kevin Chen at the age of 10, smiles after rehearsing in the Mount Royal University’s new Bella Concert Hall. I thought: Well, that’s an interesting entree. Up to (the age of) 32 with no lower age limits. This was the first one, though, that was open to adults. “These are major competitions for people under 18,” says Engle, who has taught Chen for nearly four years. Marilyn Engle, Chen’s piano teacher and a professor at the University of Calgary, says he began to shine in international competitions in 2013 although, until now, most of them were geared toward younger musicians. Article contentīut the win in Budapest seems to put him at a crossroads and has him poised to emerge from the realm of child prodigy and into a much larger classical music world. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In 2019, he took home the win at the e-Piano Junior Competition, an international event held in Minneapolis for classical pianists aged 17 and under. The CBC named him among the “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” in 2013 when he was 10. That was when he was awarded a top prize at the Canadian Music Competition in the seven-year-old category. It was just the latest triumph for the musician and composer, who has been winning competitions and earning attention since he was seven years old.
Whatever the case, he wowed the audience and the judges last weekend, besting 22 competitors from around the world. Given the technical difficulty of performing Liszt’s compositions, Chen’s ability to block out distractions while on stage was probably helpful. Please try again Article contentĬhen presumably entered that zone last weekend in Budapest, when he became the youngest musician in history to win the prestigious Frank Liszt International Competition. The next issue of Calgary Herald Headline News will soon be in your inbox. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
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