Pianist Shuann Chai is an active and engaging performer, critically acclaimed for interpretations on both modern and historical instruments. Recent projects reflect her wide-ranging interests: all-Beethoven recitals at the Vredenburg Utrecht (NL) and the American Church of Paris (FR), concerts and masterclasses in China in collaboration with baritone Mattijs van de Woerd, and directing a series of performances in the Netherlands featuring the music of John Cage in which she also performed in collaboration with modern dancers. Shuann has also been featured in live webcast on Avro Klassiek (NL) and live radio broadcasts on WGBH Boston (with cellist Pieter Wispelwey), the Dennis Lewin Radio Show on WCLV Cleveland, CKUA Edmonton (Canada), Harmonia Early Music Radio, Hong Kong Radio 4, and Radio-Canada.  Her first solo CD, featuring Beethoven Sonatas on the fortepiano, was released in 2011 to critical acclaim.

Shuann completed degrees in both Piano Performance and Biology at Oberlin College and earned Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (NL). Her teachers have included Jack Radunsky, Norma Fisher, David Breitman, and Claus-Christian Schuster of the Altenberg Trio. In 2010 she received a full scholarship at the Banff Centre (Canada), where she was one of eight pianists from around the world selected to take part in an exclusive Beethoven Seminar and Master Class with Anton Kuerti. She was invited back to the Centre as an Artist-in-Residence in 2012 and 2013.

Alongside her concert appearances, Ms. Chai has been increasingly in demand as a teacher. She has conducted master classes and lecture-demonstrations at the Gulangyu Piano Academy in Xiamen (China), the Grieg Conservatory in Bergen (Norway), the Central Conservatory of Beijing (China), National University of Taipei (Taiwan), the University of Edinburgh (UK), the University of California at Davis, the University of Rhode Island, and Duke University.

A major part of Shuann's 2013-14 season will be dedicated to performing the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven on period instruments. She currently lives in The Hague, in the Netherlands, where she serves as Visiting Lecturer in early keyboards and pianos at the Royal Conservatory of Music. This is her seventh appearance in our concert series.

On her web site, http://shuannchai.com , you will discover much more, including her concert schedule (all the rest of which are in Europe, ours is one of only two in the US) and reviews of her latest CD, Beethoven Sonatas (Pathétique, Moonlight, and Appassionata), and a link to purchase it.