Chamber Music at LRC
Hong Kong Chamber Music Society
proudly presents
Chamber Music at LRC
Concert by pianist Rachel Cheung and violinist Gian Paolo Peloso
Date and time:
Sunday 12 February, 2017
(Concert at 7:15pm / Dinner at 8:30pm)
Location:
Central
Admission:
Concert only: Adult $320; Student $160
Concert and Dinner: Adult $690; Student $530
Programme:
Mozart: Violin Sonata in F major, K. 377
Chopin: Selections from Preludes, Op. 28
Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Ravel: Tzigane
About the musicians:
Rachel Cheung (piano)
Hong Kong-born pianist Rachel Cheung is recognized as one of the most sought-after artists in Asia. She has been hailed as “a poet, but also a dramatist,” displaying “the most sophisticated and compelling music-making” (The Dallas Morning News). She won over audiences and critics alike as a finalist at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition with “stunningly imaginative” (Musical America) interpretations marked by “flights of both beauty and virtuosity” (Theater Jones) and was awarded the Audience Prize by online vote. Also a Steinway Artist, she continues to build a reputation for her elegant stage presence, giving sensitive and refined performances across three continents.
Rachel has appeared with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Sydney Symphony, London Chamber, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, collaborating with conductors including Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jaap van Zweden, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Mark Elder, Christopher Warren-Green, and Nicholas McGegan.
She has performed in recital at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Steinway Hall in London, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts in Toronto, Philharmonie de Paris, and in other cities across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
As an active chamber musician, Rachel has collaborated with world-renowned artists including soprano Anna Netrebko, tenor Yusif Eyvazov, mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen, violinists Joshua Bell and Ning Feng, violist Vladimir Mendelssohn, cellists Camille Thomas, Zlatomir Fung, and Narek Hakhnazaryan, as well as the Brentano String Quartet and Quatuor Hanson.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Rachel graduated with first-class honors from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the tutelage of Eleanor Wong and later studied with Peter Frankl at the Yale School of Music, where she was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize for outstanding pianists. Her additional competition honors include prizes at the Leeds, Chopin, Vladimir Horowitz, Gina Bachauer, and Geneva International Piano Competitions.
In 2019, Rachel was awarded Artist of the Year (Music) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 2025, she founded the Rachel Cheung Music Academy in Hong Kong, aiming to create a vibrant musical community and inspire the next generation of musicians. Her first concert DVD was released by VAI in 2007, and her debut international album, Reflections, featuring the Chopin Preludes, was released by Universal Music.
Gian Paolo Peloso (violinist)
Gian Paolo Peloso is regarded as one of the most accomplished Italian violinists. He has studied with some of the finest pedagogues of the 20th century, including the legendary Ruggiero Ricci, Ivry Gitlis, Igor Ozim, Viktor Pikaisen, and Pierre Amoyal. The venerated Ivry Gitlis defines Peloso “a violinist and friend, whom I respect and love in both ways: a true musician, of the highest quality as a soloist and chamber music performer, and a top class violin teacher, whose practice honors our profession and its future.”
Peloso made his debut at the age of ten under the direction of composer Luciano Berio. He has performed internationally in Europe, Asia and the US as a soloist with orchestras, in recitals, and in chamber music concerts; throughout his career, he has been invited to participate in the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, the Martha Argerich Festival in Switzerland, and has made appearances at the Società dei Concerti Foundation of Milan, the Moscow International House of Music, the Singapore Sun Festival, the Archipel Festival in Geneva, the Hong Kong Musicus Fest, the Cannes Festival in France, and the Weill Recital Hall in New York.
He has toured extensively with the Camerata de Lausanne and performed chamber music with Sofia Gubaidulina, Mark Lubotsky, Vladimir Mendelssohn, and Bruno Canino. Appointed Violin Professor at the Conservatory of Music of Neuchatel in Switzerland, he has recorded sonatas by Saint-Saens and Poulenc for the National Swiss Radio.
Peloso has published two albums for Sony Classical and he is presently Senior Lecturer in Violin at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He plays a Matteo Goffriller violin of 1710.