Pianist Mayron Tsong of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is marking some major musical milestones. She will perform for the first time at Carnegie Hall in New York City on May 30 and release a debut CD this fall.
Tsong, an assistant professor of piano at UNC since 2003, will perform works by Ravel, Haydn, Prokofiev, Coulthard, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin at 8 p.m. in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Her self-titled CD (Centaur Records) will feature works by Prokofiev, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. The CD will be available at the Carnegie concert and then through the Web sites of ArkivMusic, Centaur Records, HB Direct and Amazon.com this fall.
Tsong was one of the youngest musicians to complete a performer’s diploma in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto at age 16. A Steinway artist, Tsong is a featured soloist with orchestras in Russia, America and Canada. Her summers are also marked by appearances at music festivals in Italy, Prague and across America.
Her performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio (Canada), Radio 4 (Hong Kong), WFMT (Chicago) and on National Public Radio.
The Swedish newspaper, Sundsvall Tidning, wrote of Tsong: “stunning and mesmerizing playing,” and The Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida added, “an intense and remarkably subtle performance.”
Tim Carter, chair of the music department in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences and the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor, said to play at Carnegie Hall marks the peak of any performer’s career — not just because of its reputation but also because of its fabulous acoustic.
“It is just the right place for Mayron Tsong’s remarkable talents as a pianist on the concert platform and in the recording studio and for her highly imaginative programming,” Carter said. “It is also the perfect showcase for the innovative work of UNC’s distinguished faculty.”
