Teacher

Vivianne Cheng

BA MA

Lektorin for Piano Department Keyboard Studies
Vivianne Cheng, one of the youngest Steinway artists in the world, has performed extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. She made her solo debut at the age of ten and has since performed in the most prestigious venues (including Carnegie Hall, Het Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Salle Cortot, Lincoln Center, Wonderfeel Festival, Festival Ljubljana and Verbier Festival). Her studies include the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Naum Grubert, the University Mozarteum with Andreas Groethuysen and Pavel Gililov, and the Curtis Institute of Music with Gary Graffman and Leon Fleisher. 
Vivianne Cheng's current highlights are solo concerts in Austria, France, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain, the USA; Concerts at the Mahler Festival in the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and a live performance on Dutch national radio "NPO Radio 4"; as a guest soloist she plays with the Bolshoi Theater Symphony Orchestra in Belarus and Germany; World premiere at the Aspects Festival in Salzburg; in addition, a new CD consisting of 48 preludes will be produced. Vivianne has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Tureck International Bach Competition, the New York International Piano Competition, the Concurso Internacional de Piano CLaMo, the Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition, the Wideman International Piano Competition, the Concours International de Piano de Lagny and the Albert of the Philadelphia Orchestra M. Greenfield Concerto Competition and First Prize winner of the Arts Arena-Curtis Institute of Music. Vivianne has also received the Jacques Vonk Fund, the AHK Talent Grant, the David H. Springman Memorial Fellowship, the Vladimir Horowitz Piano Scholarship, and the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant. Her performances have been featured on television and radio programs including PBS, Y Arts 'On Stage at Curtis', The Classical Network (WWFM), Good Morning Television New Zealand; the acclaimed documentaries  "On a Personal Note"  (2010) and  "The Martins Passion"  (2004) aired. As a chamber musician, Vivianne has performed with Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian and Efe Baltacigil and studied with Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, Pamela Frank, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Aaron Rosand and Thomas Riebl, among others. In addition, she has premiered many new works for solo piano and mixed ensembles and played works by well-known composers such as William Bolcom, Reinhard Febel and Ned Rorem. Prior to the Curtis Institute, Vivianne attended the Juilliard School, where she entered the university program at the age of fifteen. Past principal teachers include Ruth Slenczynska, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Nina Lelchuk, and Arkady Aronov. She has also attended master classes with renowned pianists such as Alicia de Larrocha, György Sándor, Claude Frank, Earl Wild, Boris Berman, Dmitri Bashkirov, Kirill Gerstein, Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Menahem Pressler, Ferenc Rados and Arie Vardi. 
"An extraordinarily gifted and accomplished young artist. Experienced as a soloist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra, Vivianne is thoughtful, imaginative and approaches all of her work with great seriousness." ( Gary Graffman) "One of the most creative talents I've had the pleasure of working with. Always thoughtful and technically impeccable as a musician, Vivianne proves that seriousness can indeed come with talent."  (Ida Kavafian) "Your work in the Beethoven concerto was impressive from start to finish... The second movement was played with great poise and poetry. It was certainly one of the most beautiful performances we have ever heard."  (CVNC Art Magazine) "...amazingly quick fingerwork, beautiful shimmering tone, with subtle shading of dynamics...Cheng seemed undeterred by the daunting challenges of this work and played it with unwavering concentration and dedication."  (News & Observer)