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Harp concert featuring Chen-Yu Huang

Chen Yu Huang

Concert details

Program

Marcel Grandjany (1891-1975)
Rhapsodie

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Sonata Hob. XVI: 24 
I. Allegro
II. Adagio 
III. Finale Presto

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Arranged by Marcel Grandjany
Spanish Dance No. 1 from the Opera "La Vida Breve"

Boris Pigovat (b. 1953)
The Wandering Stars 

Pearl Chertok (1918-1981)
Around the Clock 
I. Ten past Two 
II. Beige Nocturne
III. Harpicide at Midnight 
IV. The Morning After 

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Trans. by Hans Trnecek
The Moldau

Performer

Chen-Yu Huang (harp)

Known for her charismatic and earnest musicianship, Chen‑Yu Huang is rising up as a performer and a teacher in the Midwest. She joined Michigan State University College of Music as assistant professor of harp in 2014. She is currently the principal harpist of Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the harpist of Formosa Trio. She is the winner of the Krannert Debut Artist Award 2010 and a recipient of the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship 2010‑2011. Of both prizes, she is the first harpist ever to be awarded. Other honors include the winner of the State of Illinois Senior Division in the 2007 American String Teacher Association National Solo Competition, finalist for the 2006 National Anne Adams Award Auditions, and winner of the 2008 String Division Concerto Competition. Currently, Chen‑Yu is the president of West Michigan Chapter and one of the Directors‑at‑Large of American Harp Society, Inc.

A native of Taiwan, Chen‑Yu obtained a bachelor of fine arts in piano performance at National Taiwan Normal University. She pursued her graduate degrees in harp performance at University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign, where she held a teaching assistantship and obtained master of music, artist diploma, and doctoral of musical arts in harp performance under the instruction of Dr. Ann Yeung. Before coming to the United States, she studied harp with Shannon Chieh, Chi‑Mei Hung, and Bi‑Ya Lin in Taiwan.

As an enthusiastic teacher, Chen‑Yu is most passionate about inspiring students to realize their highest potential and build their own careers. She teaches at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Community Music School at MSU. She also hosts Harp Day at Michigan State University annually.

Chen‑Yu is dedicated to expanding the harp repertoire. She has arranged and transcribed music for harp and worked with composers to create original works. Recent activities include performing Hindemith’s Concerto for woodwinds, harp and orchestra, as a concerto soloist with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra; performing two world premieres at the 13th World Harp Congress in Hong Kong in 2017; performing the closing concert at the International Harp Festival in Taiwan; and premiering her own harp version of original pieces by William R. C. Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright’s father) at historical Dana Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois.