Organ-Violin Duo To Perform Free Concert at Allegheny College

Sept. 2, 2013 – The Duo Wong-Chen will perform a concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. Admission is free.

The program includes Carillon Sortie by Henri Mulet and Prelude et Danse Fugue by Gaston Litaize for organ solo. The duo will perform works by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Poulenc, as well as Melodies from Japan by Kitamura and Two Taiwanese Folksongs by Chelsea Chen.

Acclaimed soloists in their own right, Lewis Wong and Chelsea Chen have been playing concerts together since graduating from Juilliard, with performances in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. They have taught master classes at the Taiwan Seminary, Baylor University and La Jolla Presbyterian Church and individually maintain private studios in violin and organ. In 2011 they recorded their duo debut album, “Eastern Treasures: A Collection of Asian Folk Songs,” for the Con Brio Recordings label.

Considered one of the most promising organists of her generation, Chen performed at Allegheny last fall. In addition to two graduate degrees from Juilliard, she received an Artist Diploma from Yale, was a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan and won the 2009 Lili Boulanger Memorial Award and a national organ competition. She is artist-in-residence at the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.

Wong has given recitals in New York’s Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with orchestras. He is concertmaster of the Hudson Symphony Orchestra and leader of the Manhattan Chamber Soloists. A dedicated teacher, he gives guest lectures and master classes all over the United States. He is currently a visiting artist-in-residence of violin, viola and chamber music at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

In addition to their public performance at Allegheny College, Chen and Wong will give a presentation to children from the Creating Landscapes Learning Center in Meadville.

Their concert at Allegheny College is supported by the Chapel Organ Recitals Fund established by Dr. Edward S. Hodgson Jr., Allegheny Class of 1947.

For more information call 814-587-3998.