Sandra Wright Shen
Encyclopedia
Sandra Wright Shen, a concert pianist, was born in Taiwan
. Her father Harold Wright was an American businessman in Taiwan and her mother Sandy Lin Wright was a housewife of Taiwanese descent. She received her Bachelor of Music
in 1994 with a piano performance major and organ minor from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Ann Schein . In 1996, she completed her Master of Music
in piano performance and also served as an Ear-Training graduate teaching assistant to Peabody professor Clinton Adams. She performed in Master Classes with Jerome Lowenthal
, André Watts
, Lev Nauomov and Rebecca Penneys
and studied chamber music with Earl Carlyss. Sandra's passion for chamber music took her to Germany and Austria during the summers from 1995–1998, where she worked under the direction of the Alban Berg Quartet
, Jörg Demus
, and Grant Johannesen
.
Sandra has made guest appearances throughout U.S. and Taiwan. Her chamber concerts have included a concert tour throughout Asia with cellist Nina Kotova
, and chamber concerts tour in Taiwan with Vesselin Paraschkevov, former concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
.
Sandra's activities as a piano teacher include a two-year appointment at Rollins College
Community School in Winter Park, Florida
from 1997 to 1999; she has also performed, taught, and given Master Classes at numerous schools in Taiwan. In the 2002-2003 season she hosted a Classical Radio Program for FM 99.7 IC Radio Station. She was invited to be on the judge panel on the National MTNA South West division piano competitions in January 2005. Sandra served as Piano Lecturer at Southern Illinois University
School of Music in Carbondale, Illinois
for the 2004-2005 school year. She has also served on the piano faculty at Brevard Music Center
since 2006.
, the 1996 Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition, and the Taiwan National Piano Competition. She also garnered second prize in the Peabody Russell Wunderlich Piano Competition and won the Peabody Frances M. Wentz Memorial Prize in Piano.
's Third Piano Concerto, recorded live, and the Saint-Saëns
Carnival of the Animals, both released on Taiwan's Rock Records
Music label.
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Her father Harold Wright was an American businessman in Taiwan and her mother Sandy Lin Wright was a housewife of Taiwanese descent. She received her Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
in 1994 with a piano performance major and organ minor from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Ann Schein . In 1996, she completed her Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
in piano performance and also served as an Ear-Training graduate teaching assistant to Peabody professor Clinton Adams. She performed in Master Classes with Jerome Lowenthal
Jerome Lowenthal
Jerome Lowenthal is an American classical pianist. He is a professor of piano at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was also chair of the piano department. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.He made his debut at 13 with the...
, André Watts
André Watts
André Watts is a classical pianist and professor at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University.-Life and early performances:...
, Lev Nauomov and Rebecca Penneys
Rebecca Penneys
Rebecca Penneys is an American-born pianist of Russian-Jewish decent. Penneys is considered a world-class recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral soloist, educator, and adjudicator. In 1965, she was the youngest contestant to have ever entered the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw,...
and studied chamber music with Earl Carlyss. Sandra's passion for chamber music took her to Germany and Austria during the summers from 1995–1998, where she worked under the direction of the Alban Berg Quartet
Alban Berg Quartet
The Alban Berg Quartett was a string quartet founded in Vienna, Austria in 1970, named after the famous composer Alban Berg.-Members:- Beginnings :...
, Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus is an Austrian pianist.At the age of six, Demus received his first piano lessons. Five years later, at the age of 11, he entered the Vienna Academy of Music, studying piano and conducting. He graduated in 1945, then 17 years old...
, and Grant Johannesen
Grant Johannesen
Grant Johannesen was an American concert pianist.He was born in Salt Lake City and discovered at the age of five by an irate teacher who lived across the street. He imitated whatever he heard her play, and she did not appreciate it.He studied with Robert Casadesus, Roger Sessions, and Nadia...
.
Sandra has made guest appearances throughout U.S. and Taiwan. Her chamber concerts have included a concert tour throughout Asia with cellist Nina Kotova
Nina Kotova
Nina Kotova is a Russian Americancellist.Nina Kotova was accepted by the cello faculty into an adult class of the Moscow Conservatory at the age of seven, while studying at the Central Music School Pre-Conservatory. Nina gave her first performance as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of 11 and...
, and chamber concerts tour in Taiwan with Vesselin Paraschkevov, former concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
.
Sandra's activities as a piano teacher include a two-year appointment at Rollins College
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....
Community School in Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
from 1997 to 1999; she has also performed, taught, and given Master Classes at numerous schools in Taiwan. In the 2002-2003 season she hosted a Classical Radio Program for FM 99.7 IC Radio Station. She was invited to be on the judge panel on the National MTNA South West division piano competitions in January 2005. Sandra served as Piano Lecturer at Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
School of Music in Carbondale, Illinois
Carbondale, Illinois
Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...
for the 2004-2005 school year. She has also served on the piano faculty at Brevard Music Center
Brevard Music Center
The Brevard Music Center is a summer institute and festival located in Brevard, North Carolina. It enrolls about four hundred students, age fourteen and older, who participate in orchestra and other large ensembles, an opera program, play chamber music, study composition, and take private lessons....
since 2006.
Competitions
Sandra has won first prizes in several major piano competitions, including the 1997 Hilton Head International Piano CompetitionHilton Head International Piano Competition
The Hilton Head International Piano Competition is an annual piano competition held since 1996 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina's First Presbyterian Church.-Selected list of jurors:...
, the 1996 Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition, and the Taiwan National Piano Competition. She also garnered second prize in the Peabody Russell Wunderlich Piano Competition and won the Peabody Frances M. Wentz Memorial Prize in Piano.
Recordings
Sandra's recordings include her debut CD featuring RachmaninoffSergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
's Third Piano Concerto, recorded live, and the Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
Carnival of the Animals, both released on Taiwan's Rock Records
Rock Records
Rock Records is a Taiwanese record label founded in 1980 by Sam and Johnny Duan . The record label had their first multiseller in 1989 with Sarah Chen.It is now Asia's largest independent record label....
Music label.
External links
- http://www.sandrashen.com