The only Chinese pianist to have won prizes at the Leeds, Chopin, and Van Cliburn international competitions, Chen Sa returns to Shanghai with a spellbinding solo recital that journeys through Bach, Franck, Beethoven, and Chopin — from the intricate elegance of the Baroque to the emotional intensity of Romanticism.

Program

• Bach – French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
• Franck – Prelude, Choral and Fugue
• Beethoven – Fantasia in G minor, Op. 77
• Chopin – Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

(Program subject to change)

About Chen Sa

Hailed by UK’s Classic FM as “one of the most charismatic pianists of our time,” Chen Sa remains the only Chinese pianist to have earned prizes in all three of the world’s top piano competitions — the Leeds, Chopin, and Van Cliburn. She is also a recipient of the Polish government’s Chopin Art Passport and served as a jury member for the 2021 and 2025 International Chopin Piano Competitions.

She has collaborated with leading orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Her chamber music collaborations have graced major festivals such as Lockenhaus, Salzburg, Ruhr Piano Festival, Duszniki Chopin Festival, and the Singapore International Piano Festival.

Recent highlights include performances with the Warsaw Philharmonic on their China tour, Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin tour with baritone Matthias Goerne, concerto performances under maestros Charles Dutoit and Jaap van Zweden, and a conducting-piano tour with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra in Germany.

She has appeared at venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. In 2020, she was invited by UNESCO to speak at the ResiliArt Global Forum.

Her recordings include Chopin: Complete Nocturnes (Decca, 2021) and Liszt Sonata in B Minor & Schumann Kreisleriana (2024), produced by her own label, AtelierSa Studio, in collaboration with recording engineer Rainer Maillard.