Sarah Chang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Chang
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Chang before performing a 2005 concert
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| Background information | |
| Native name |
장영주
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| Birth name | Young Joo Chang |
| Born | December 10, 1980 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Classical |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Years active | 1984–present |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
장영주
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| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jang Yeong-ju |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chang Yŏng-ju |
Sarah Chang (Korean: 장영주; born Young Joo Chang; December 10, 1980) is a famous Korean American classical violinist. She was known as a child prodigy because of her amazing talent at a very young age. She first played as a solo artist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra when she was only 8 years old in 1989. Sarah studied music at the Juilliard School and finished her studies there in 1999. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Chang was a main solo performer with many of the world's biggest orchestras.
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Early Life and Learning Music
Sarah Chang was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Cherry Hill and Voorhees Township, New Jersey. Her mother, Myoung-Jun Chang, is a composer, and her father, Min-Soo Chang, was a violinist and music teacher. Her parents moved to the United States from South Korea in 1979. They came so her father could get a special music degree at Temple University. Her mother also took music classes at the University of Pennsylvania. Sarah feels a strong connection to Korea, even though she has never lived there.
When Sarah was 5 years old in 1986, she tried out for the Juilliard School. She played the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor and was accepted. She spent her weekends going to music classes at Juilliard. When she was 6, she started learning from the famous violinist Isaac Stern. In 1989, she began working with Dorothy DeLay in New York. Her father had also learned from DeLay. Another teacher, Hyo Kang, also helped train Sarah.
After finishing high school in New Jersey in 1999, she went back to Juilliard for college. She continued to study with Dorothy DeLay. Sarah learned to speak Korean naturally because her family spoke it at home. Because of her amazing musical skills from a young age, Sarah Chang is one of the few people known as a true child prodigy.
Her Amazing Career
Starting Out as a Musician
Sarah's mother taught her to play simple tunes on the piano with one finger when she was 3. For her fourth birthday, she got a tiny 1/16-sized violin. A concertmaster from the Philadelphia Orchestra heard her play and asked the music director, Riccardo Muti, to listen. When Sarah was 8, she played for Muti and Zubin Mehta, who led the New York Philharmonic. Both conductors immediately offered her chances to perform.
In 1991, when Sarah was 10, she recorded her first album called Debut. It came out in 1992 and quickly became a classical music best-seller. Sarah became famous around the world very quickly. She started performing up to 150 concerts every year! In 2006, Newsweek magazine named her one of the top eight successful women in the U.S. She said that having a career so early helped her stay focused. She felt lucky to know what she wanted to do with her life.
Performances Around the World
In 2002, Sarah Chang played a concert in Pyongyang, North Korea. She said it was an amazing experience, both a little scary and exciting. She felt very lucky to be a musician and believed that music truly is a language everyone understands.
Sarah was part of a global ad campaign for the watchmaker Movado. She was featured with famous people like tennis player Pete Sampras. For the 2004 Olympics, she was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in New York City. In 2005, the Yale School of Music named a special chair in a concert hall after her. After that, Sarah toured for a year with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Later Performances
Sarah played a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 7, 2007. She continued to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She played at the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, she toured Europe, North America, and Asia. She also played at the Barbican Hall in London in 2010. In March 2010, she performed at the University of Southern California. She played Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. She returned to the Hollywood Bowl in August 2010.
Her Special Violins
Sarah Chang owns several violins. Her main instrument is a very old and valuable violin made in 1717. It was made by a famous Italian violin maker named Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù. She bought this special violin from her teacher, Isaac Stern.
Sarah also uses different bows for her violin. She chooses different bows depending on the music she is playing. For example, she prefers a Pajeot bow for music by Mozart and Bach. She uses a Sartory bow for concertos by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. For other types of music, she uses two Dominique Peccatte bows.
Her Music Albums
Sarah Chang has recorded many albums throughout her career. Her first album, Debut, came out in 1992. She has recorded music by many famous composers. These include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Nicolo Paganini, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, Antonio Vivaldi, and Max Bruch. She has also released DVDs of her performances.
Images for kids
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Chang in Italy at the 2005 Festival I suoni delle Dolomiti, performing outdoors
See also
In Spanish: Sarah Chang para niños
