By Margit Resch
Junwen Liang
According to his website, celebrated pianist Junwen Liang is going to “showcase his artistry and passion for his music” on October 20 at an “esteemed venue:” Fripp Island.
Fripp Island—an esteemed venue for music. Indeed!
For forty years, Fripp Island Friends of Music—FIFOM— has been bringing acclaimed musicians of all kinds from all over the world to the Chapel in the Community Centre. The five yearly concerts are always topped off by the audience with enthusiastic, standing applause, and concluded by a catered reception, where the audience can meet and chat with the musicians, while nibbling on delicious hors d’oeuvres lovingly prepared by Harold’s Chef Services.
FIFOM will start its 40th Anniversary season in October with a piano concert performed by the fabulous young keyboard artist Junwen Liang, who is celebrated for his “captivating” performances (Stroll Magazine) and acknowledged as “an extremely gifted and promising young artist” by the New York Concert Review. Recently praised for his “engaging stage presence, helpful spoken introductions to the music, and confident programming skills” (In the Spotlight), Junwen is poised for a major career. Wait. Why do we say,”poised?” He already is a major figure in the international world of celebrated pianists.
Junwen’s amazing story is told beautifully by the Digital Journal under the apt title: Unlocking the Keys to Musical Brilliance. His global journey started at age nine in Nanning, China, where his father, a violinist, introduced him to the piano. “I remember the first time I touched the keys. It was like a revelation — as if the piano had been waiting for me all along,” Junwen recalls. Starting with his first public performance in Nanning at age thirteen, he unfailingly drew his audience into his musical world that ranged from 18th-century classics to the Romantic masterpieces by composers such as Bach, Schubert, and Chopin. His prominence and acclaim grew rapidly, earning him accolades from reviewers and invitations to prestigious venues all over the world, to concert halls like the Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall, to festivals like the Aspen Music Festival, and to numerous piano competitions where he, more often than not, won first prize like in the Nouvelles Étoiles International Music Competition (France), or the Princeton Festival International Piano Competition.
Soon enough, Junwen caught the eyes and ears of music professionals, and established musicians asked him to collaborate with them, like the principal cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker who invited Junwen to play with him (and four string musicians from the Peabody Institute) the famous Piano Quintet called The Trout by Franz Schubert. “To learn from a musician of such caliber was an honor beyond words,” Junwen says. “It was a masterclass in every sense of the word — an experience that has forever shaped my approach to music.” In June 2023, Junwen had a defining moment in his career. He was invited by the Texas State International Piano Festival to perform a Mozart piano concerto with the Central Texas Philharmonic Orchestra. “It was a dream come true,” Junwen says. “To stand on stage, surrounded by the swell of a professional orchestra, was an experience I will never forget.”
While performing constantly, all year long all over the United States and abroad, solo or in the company of famous orchestras and individual instrumentalists and singers, Junwen managed to also study, to obtain a college degree and, just recently, to earn a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Richard Goode. His past mentors include Christopher Guzman (Penn State), Roberto Plano, Edward Auer (Indiana University), and Chris Dimaras (Ithaca College). Congratulations, Dr. Junwen Liang! Junwen currently teaches in the Music Department of the University of Pennsylvania.
Junwen Liang will perform on Sunday, October 20, at 5:00 pm at the Fripp Island Community Centre, 205 Tarpon Boulevard. The concert is presented by Fripp Island Friends of Music and supported by the SC Arts Commission. Attendees get a free pass at the Fripp gate. Tickets at the door: adults $30, students free thanks to the Peg Gorham Memorial Fund. You are invited to join the musicians at a complimentary reception after the performance, catered deliciously by Harold’s Chef Services. Questions? Email or text Vanessa Peñaherrera at vandy116@gmail.com or (704) 807-0255. Go to frippfriendsofmusic.com for more information.
We encourage you to become members of Fripp Island Friends of Music! Membership gives you access to all five concerts, including the post-performance reception. The basic FIFOM membership, $100, has not changed. It saves you $50 compared to the sum of five $30-tickets. To become a member, text or call Vanessa Peñaherrera, (704) 807-0255.
By the way: Your membership underwrites our mission— our Music-in-the-Schools program—which is to support and enhance student music programs in Beaufort County schools. Last season, FIFOM distributed almost $9000 to five area schools North of Broad, funding sheet music, instruments, music camp participation and an artist in residency program (to name a few). Your enhanced memberships go a long way toward bringing smiles to our area music students and teachers.
