Lucille Chung

 The Canadian pianist, Lucille Chung, graduated from both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School before she turned 20. She then decided to further her studies in Europe at the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and received the Konzertexam Diplom from the Hochschule “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, where she worked with the late Lazar Berman. She also graduated from the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy with the honorary title of “Master” and most recently from the SMU Meadows School of the Arts under the tutelage of Joaquín Achúcarro. Lucille Chung is the recipient of the prestigious Honors Diploma at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

In 1989, Lucille Chung was recognized on the international scene as the First Prize winner at the Stravinsky International Piano Competition. She won Second Prize at the 1992 Montreal International Music Competition, at which she also won a Special Prize for the best interpretation of the unpublished work. In 1993, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Governor General of Canada and in 1994 won the Second Prize at the First International Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar. In 1999, she was awarded the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Lucille Chung made her debut at the age of 10 with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit subsequently invited her to be a featured soloist during the MSO Asian Tour in 1989. Since then, she has performed an extensive concerto repertoire with over 50 leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Philharmonie de Lorraine, the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Seoul Philharmonic, the KBS Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, the UNAM Philharmonic, the Israel Chamber Orchestra as well as all the major Canadian orchestras, including the Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Calgary, and Winnipeg Orchestras, among others. She has appeared with conductors such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Gerd Albrecht, Peter Oundjian, and Charles Dutoit.

As a recitalist Lucille Chung has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Festival appearances include the MDR Sommer Festival in Dresden, Lübecker Kammermusikfest, Santander International Festival in Spain where she premiered the 6 Piano Etudes of Israel by David Martinez, Felicja Blumental Festival in Israel, Montreal International Festival, Ottawa Chamber Festival, Westben Festival, Bard Music Festival in NY, and the Camerino Festival in Italy. An avid chamber musician, Lucille has collaborated with the Takacs Quartet, cellists Alexander Kniazev and Rocco Filippini, violinists Chee-Yun, Ilya Kaler, Vadim Gluzman and Nicholas Kitchen.

Highlights of this season (2007-2008) include a USA recital tour featuring Israel David Martinez’s 6 Piano Etudes in New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Concerto performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Miguel Hart-Bedoya (Mozart's Concerto K.365), the Lithuanian National Philharmonic (Franz Liszt's Concerto No.1), the Plano Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven's Emperor), Irving Symphony (Sergei Rachmaninov's Concerto No.1), Eurorchestra in Italy (Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos), and recitals in London, Darlington, Kent, Blackpool, and Newcastle in the UK, Ireland, and an all-Bach recital in Palo Alto.

Lucille Chung has been hailed as “a considerable artist, admirable for her bold choice of music” by the Sunday Times for her recordings of the complete piano works by György Ligeti on the Dynamic label. The first volume was released in 2001 to great critical acclaim, receiving the maximum R10 from Répertoire in France, 5 Stars from the BBC Music Magazine, and 5 Stars on Fono Forum in Germany. The final volume, which also contains works for two pianos, was recorded with her husband, Alessio Bax and once again received the prestigious R10 from Répertoire. Her all-Scriabin CD won the “Best Instrumental Recording” prize at the 2003 Prelude Classical Awards in Holland as well as the coveted R10 Répertoire in France. She also recorded the two Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerti on the Richelieu/Radio-Canada label which was nominated for the Prix Opus in Canada. In August 2005, she recorded Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals with the Fort Worth Symphony under Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya which was released in 2006 on AVIE. A new solo album for the Fazioli Concert Hall Series was released in 2008. She has just signed an exclusive recording contract with Les Disques XXI-21/Universal. The first album will be released in 2009.

Lucille Chung speaks French, English, Korean, Italian, German and Russian fluently. She is also artistic co-director of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation.