Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen to appear in Beverly
Hills
Report by Taiwan News
February 24, 2014
Internationally renowned Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen will perform the evenings of March 27 and 28 at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills. Chen will perform classic piano work from one of the true masters, Sergei Rachmaninoff. As always, Chen’s superb talent and rich interpretations are expected to attract a full house of music lovers who enjoy his keyboard skills as well as his infectious charm.
Chen will be the first piano soloist to perform in the recently completed Wallis Annenberg Center, a performing arts center in Beverly Hills that took 15 years and US$70 million to complete. Chen has noted that it is a truly great honor for him to be the first solo performer to appear there, and he is proud to open the center to the public. In addition, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Beverly Hills, adding to the meaning of the debut performance in the Wallis Annenberg Center.
Chen was the first Chinese musician to perform at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University early last year, and in February this year he was invited back to perform a Chinese New Year Concert featuring the "Yellow River Piano Concerto." This is always a performance that audiences of all nationalities enjoy and appreciate for its festive Chinese New Year atmosphere.
Chen was also the first Chinese musician to ever appear in the latest and most modern Center for the Performing Arts in Southern California scale ─ the Orange County Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, also known as the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Chen's performances come during the 140th anniversary commemoration of Rachmaninoff, and Beverly Hills is one of the places where Rachmaninoff spent the twilight years of his outstanding career. He spent much of his life in foreign lands, and many of his works are full of melancholy. Chen, who traveled to Vienna at a young age to study the piano, has many parallels in his own life, making Rachmaninoff's works even more vivid and poignant for him. Chen says sometimes he wonders if he has some Russian blood in his ancestry. He notes that no one ever taught him how to play Rachmaninoff, he just sat down at the piano and let Rachmaninoff's works resonate through his fingertips. With Rueibin Chen, the whole Rachmaninoff experience is something that cannot be explained in words.
Chen’s performance at Beverly Hills will echo his triumphant appearance in Taiwan, with a comprehensive range of Rachmaninoff’s works including his piano transcriptions The Three Nocturnes. This is a feat that demands great skill but produces tremendous feelings of nostalgia for the listener.
Currently tickets for the first concert on March 27 are sold out, but may still be available for the Friday, March 28 performance. Please visitwww.thewallis.org or call 310-746-4000. The center is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills.
Photo # 1
Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen performs at Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County.
Photo # 2
Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen performs at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University.
