• Program
• About the Artists
  • Samuel DeCaprio
  • Joanne Chang

Program

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About the Artists

Samuel DeCaprio

Currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School, cellist Samuel DeCaprio is quickly establishing himself as one of today’s most creative artists and collaborators. With performances taking place from the jungles of Bali to the meditative depths of an underground New York City crypt to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he aspires to use his voice to bring the works of composers, both revered and underrepresented, to uplift modern audiences. Winner of the 2018 Aldo Parisot Prize from the Yale School of Music, awarded to “gifted cellists who show promise for concert careers,” he hopes to reach and inspire new listeners as an ambassador for classical music. Mr. DeCaprio was a winner of the Wilmington Music Festival’s 2019-2020 Emerging Artist Auditions and is currently on the Center for Musical Excellence Artist roster.

Mr. DeCaprio holds degrees from the University of Connecticut (Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude), Eastman School of Music (Master of Music), Mannes School of Music (Professional Studies Diploma), and Yale School of Music (Master of Musical Arts). While at the Eastman School, he was also awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Mr. DeCaprio performs on a 1714 Claude Pierray cello on generous loan from The Juilliard School.

Joanne Chang

Malaysian pianist Joanne Chew-Ann Chang has performed internationally in North America, Europe, and Asia. She has been featured on distinguished platforms including the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series (Chicago), International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland), Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara), and the National Youth Orchestra of China (Beijing).

A dedicated pedagogue, Joanne balances between teaching and performing. She is a piano faculty member at the Nightingale-Bamford School (New York) and recipient of the Morse Teaching Fellowship at The Juilliard School. Joanne previouslu held teaching positions at Indiana University and Florida State University.

Joanne holds a doctorate in Piano Performance and Literature with minors in Music Theory and Arts Administration from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Joanne received a MM degree in piano performance from Florida State University, and a BM (summa cum laude) in piano performance from Kent State University, alongside an honors thesis publication on French piano duet music. Joanne’s doctoral research document “The Bridge to Modernism: Franz Liszt and the Late Piano Music” (2021) explores the connection of the composer’s late piano works and the music of the early 20th century.

Joanne’s primary teachers include the late Karen Shaw, Jonathan Feldman, Read Gainsford, Jerry Wong, Patricia Lim, and additional studies with Menahem Pressler and Olga Sitkovetsky. An active collaborative pianist and teacher, Joanne is currently based in New York City as a professional musician and Teaching Fellow in Piano and Music Theory at The Juilliard School while pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.