This year's festival opens with the wonderful Jihye Chang, who will be sharing a concert of music new and old for piano! She will also be giving the world premiere of a new work by composer Erica Porter, commissioned by the Swan City Piano Festival.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jihye Chang is a pianist with a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, scholar, and advocate for new music. She has performed as a soloist worldwide, including the world premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and engagements with various orchestras and festivals. Chang has also collaborated with renowned musicians and premiered over sixty solo and chamber works. Her recordings can be found on multiple labels, and she has been invited to new music festivals and residencies worldwide. In her piano instruction, she emphasizes efficiency, performance strategies, and deep understanding of piano history and literature. Chang is also a dedicated educator and advocate for music literacy, conducting workshops and creating fellowship programs for students. She has initiated various creative projects, including the "Boston Etudes" and "Continuum 88," and is a researcher of music by living women composers and Korean composers.
Erica Porter is a classically trained pianist and composer based in Los Angeles, California. She holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from Florida Southern College '18, an M.A. in Contemporary Composition from the University of York '21, and an M.M. in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music’s Berklee Online '22. Erica is the composer and sound designer for the video game, Live by the Sword: Tactics, developed by Labrador Studios in the United Kingdom, which is currently available on Nintendo, Steam and XBOX. She has had her pieces recorded by The Budapest Score, including Galactic Triumph, A Daughter’s Beauty, and Preparation. Erica premiered her piece, Motion, at Carnegie Hall by The United Nations Chamber Music Society in the fall of 2021. She also composed the music for the documentary, Dr. Roger Peele: A Revolutionary in Psychiatry, which was screened at the A.P.A. (American Psychiatric Association) in May 2022 and other film festivals.