Lakeland Community Concert Association closes out its 2010-11 season with “The Pure Gold Tour”. The April 23 concert will feature Clara-Jumi Kang on violin and Georgy Tchaidze on piano. Kang was the 2010 Gold Medalist for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and Tchaidze was the First Laureate for the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium, 900 Park Ave., Winona Lake. Any new member for the 2011-2012 LCCA season will get this concert as a bonus (free), so that is six concerts for the $40 season membership. Season and individual tickets are available at the door. Tchaidze is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia. He began his music studies at 7 years old and received a degree from the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Sergey Dorensky. Tchaidze now studies with Klaus Hellwig at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has often performed across Russia in recital and with chamber ensembles. His Honens win allowed him to bring his artistry beyond Russia for performances throughout Europe and North America. In 2010, he performed for The International Holland Music Sessions, made a 10-city German recital tour and gave the premiere of a new work for piano and orchestra by Canadian composer Jeffrey Ryan. Last fall, Tchaidze performed for the governor general of Canada at the invitation of The Glenn Gould Foundation, and made his debut recording on the Honens label while in residence at The Banff Centre. A highlight this year will be a performance of Rachmaninov’s “Second Piano Concerto” with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In April and again in 2010, Tchaidze tours with Kang. He also tours in 2012 with the Cecilia String Quartet, winner of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and will make several debuts. Kang, a German of Korean origin, was born in Mannheim in 1987. Along with being the Gold Medalist of the International Violin Competition, she also received five special prizes and the use of the 1683 Ex-Gingold Stradivari for four years. As a result of her triumph in Indianapolis, she has multiple concert engagements throughout North America. Her Carnegie Hall debut is in May 2012. Kang started violin and piano lessons at 3 years old and entered the Mannheim Musikhochschule at 4 years old studying with Valerie Gradov. The following year, she moved to Lubeck to study under Zakhar Bron and gave her debut with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.At 7 years old, she attended The Juilliard School and studied with renowned pedagogue Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. She gave her debut concert in Korea at 8 years old, performing with the Korean Chamber Ensemble at the Seoul Arts Center. Her numerous competition prizes include first prize at the 2010 Sendai International Violin Competition, second prize at the 2009 Hannover International Violin Competition and first prize at the 2009 Seoul International Violin Competition. Kang recorded her first CD at 9 years old on the Teldec label, performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with her siblings. She completed her studies with Nam Yun Kim in Korea at the Korean National University of Arts where she was accepted as one of the youngest college students. She now lives in Munich.
