Please press the play button above to hear the recorded interview, which was recently broadcast on KMFA 89.5.

Pianist Chen Guang is the 22-year-old Chinese pianist who took home the first prize in the first-ever Olga Kern International Piano Competition last year. Chen has also won the Scriabin Prize and the Rome Prize in addition to numerous other awards in international competitions.

His first piano lessons were with his father at the age of four. At 11, he moved to Bejing to study at the Central Conservatory. In 2012 he received his pre-college diploma from New York’s prestigious Juilliard School, then went to Italy where he did graduate work with Vladimir Ashkenazy at the International Piano Academy in Immola. Antonio Mormone, who taught artists such as Grigory Sokolov, Evgeny Kissin, and Lang Lang, has been mentoring the young artist in recent years.

Chen Guang is the featured artist at tonight’s (May 11) Classical Garden concert and dinner presented by the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum. He joined Chris Johnson at the KMFA Steinway to share some of his artistry.