Sarah Chang

An American violinist of Korean heritage, Sarah Chang achieved celebrity status while still a prepubescent soloist. Unlike many child prodigies, she moved into adult life without difficulty and continues to appear as a prominent soloist on the global circuit. She first appeared before audiences at five; two years later she earned the Starling scholarship to the Juilliard School and worked there under Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. At eight, after only those two years of study—still treating the violin as a pastime—she played for Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti and left both conductors deeply impressed. Her professional debut came in 1988 when she performed Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. Before long she was appearing with leading orchestras worldwide in the Paganini, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius concertos while holding an EMI recording contract. Early profiles and reviews dwelt on the contrast between such technical command and her youthful appearance; coverage throughout her teens remained a mixture of admiration and condescension.

As she neared twenty, reviewers began to assess her work with greater seriousness. One writer praised her “consummate technical ease, a gorgeous, vibrant, flawlessly beautiful tone, and a heartfelt but unsentimental expressiveness.” At the same time, occasional performances of Romantic repertory drew criticism for seeming slightly detached. She became known for concertos not only by Paganini but also by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius, and she championed less standard works by Goldmark, Strauss, and Dvořák. Only after turning twenty did she begin to explore chamber music regularly, first at modest festivals and later on recordings with other prominent EMI artists. Her discography reveals little of her parallel interest in contemporary music, yet she has collaborated on new pieces with jazzman Eddie Karam, Jack Elliott, and Korean-American composer Donald Sur.

Teaching was an area in which Chang developed confidence slowly. Believing herself too young to speak with authority, she waited until she was twenty-two to give her first master class, and even then it took place in Singapore. Afterward she organized a modest series of recitals and educational programs aimed at rural and underserved communities across the United States. She performs on a 1717 Guarneri del Gesù yet uses an inexpensive but visually appealing substitute violin for publicity photographs so the original instrument is not exposed to intense lighting.