Program and Artist Biography

Jenny Q Chai is an active pianist specializing in contemporary music. She has premiered Life Sketches by Nils Vigeland in Orléans, France; Exercise in Deism by John Slover and Intimate Rejection by Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang in New York; and Kreutzer Sonata by Frederick Rzewski in Ghent, Belgium, where she was given the Logos Award for the best performance of 2008. Ms. Chai introduced the concept of prepared piano to a Chinese audience with the world premier of Mallet Dance by John Slover in Shanghai Concert Hall.

Ms. Chai has performed in major U. S. venues including Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Rockefeller Center, Kimmel Center, Academy of Music, Field's Hall, Kneisle Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Kravis Center. She has toured extensively in China, Korea, and Europe, and has won awards at Kil's International Piano Competition, the Steinway Young Artist International Competition, and Five Towns Art and Music Foundation International Piano Competition, among others.

Ms. Chai earned a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she has been a doctoral candidate and teacher since 2008. Her upcoming season includes lectures and master classes at Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Music Conservatory; a concert tour in China; a concert tour in the Netherlands; performances at West Chester University, the Tank Experimental Music Center, and Manhattan School of Music in the U.S.; and performances with Ensemble 20/21 in Germany.