Angela Cheng

  • Professor of Piano

Areas of Study

Education

  • BM, The Juilliard School, 1982
  • MM, Indiana University, 1984
  • Studies with Ernesto Lejano, Sascha Gorodnitzki, and Menahem Pressler

Biography

Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular guest appearances with virtually every orchestra in Canada, she has performed with the symphonies of Saint Louis, Houston, Indianapolis, Colorado, Utah, San Diego, and Jacksonville, as well as the philharmonic orchestras of Buffalo, Louisiana, Rhode Island, London, Israel, and Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Recent performances include a debut with the Fort Worth Symphony, performing Rachmaninoff’s “Variations on a Theme of Paganini,” under the baton of Robert Spano, and a return to the Vancouver Symphony, performing Ravel’s Concerto in G with Otto Tausk. Next season will include the Boulder Philharmonic, Newfoundland Symphony, Okanagan Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, Saguenay Symphony, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.

As a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician, Cheng has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., New York’s 92nd Street Y, and Wigmore Hall in London. A member of the Zukerman Trio and Chamber Players, she has also appeared at Vienna’s Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and the Sydney Opera House. Festival appearances include Verbier, Edinburgh, Miyazaki, Stars of the White Nights in St. Petersburg, and the George Enescu Festival in Romania.

Cheng also appears regularly on concert series throughout the United States and Canada and has collaborated with the Takács, Colorado, and Vogler quartets. North American festival performances include Banff, Chautauqua, Colorado, Great Lakes Chamber Music, Vancouver, Toronto, and the Festival International de Lanaudière in Quebec.

She is regularly invited to give master classes at schools throughout North America and in Asia and has appeared at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Taichung University in Taiwan, Indiana University, University of Michigan and the University of Texas. She has also served on the jury of many competitions, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Esther Honens International Piano Competition, Montreal International Piano Competition, and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, among others.

Cheng was awarded the Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition and was the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. She has also been honored with the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

A native of Hong Kong, Cheng studied extensively with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University and with Sascha Gorodnitzki at The Juilliard School. She is currently on the artist faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she was honored with the 2011-12 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Cheng’s many honors include a Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, the distinction of being the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition, additional first prizes at the William Kapell International Piano Competition and D’Angelo Young Artist Competition, the Medal of Excellence from the Salzburg Mozarteum for her outstanding interpretations of Mozart, and a Career Development Grant from the Canada Council. In 2010, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and cited for her life as a “concert pianist and ambassador for classical music.”

Cheng’s debut recording of two Mozart concerti with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra received glowing reviews. Other CDs include: for Koch International, Clara Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor with JoAnn Falletta and the Women’s Philharmonic; for CBC Records, selected works of Clara and Robert Schumann, four Spanish concerti with Hans Graf and the Calgary Philharmonic, the two Shostakovich concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Radio Orchestra; and an all-Chopin solo disc released by Universal Music Canada.

Fall 2024

Principal Private Study - Piano — PVST 001
Secondary Private Study - Piano — PVST 051
Performance Ensembles (Artist Diploma) — APST 600
Performance Project (Artist Diploma) — APST 601
Chamber Music — APST 800

Spring 2025

Principal Private Study - Piano — PVST 001
Secondary Private Study - Piano — PVST 051
Performance Ensembles (Artist Diploma) — APST 600
Performance Project (Artist Diploma) — APST 601
Chamber Music — APST 800

News

Oberlin's Cooper International Competition for Piano Returns in 2023

April 7, 2023

“We are thrilled to bring back the Cooper piano competition and to collaborate with the Cleveland Orchestra once again as we celebrate the best young piano talent in the world,” says Oberlin Professor of Piano Robert Shannon, Cooper piano competition director and jury chair. Applications are due on April 25.