Artist Biography
Bion Tsang, Cello
The young American cellist Bion Tsang has been internationally recognized as one of the outstanding instrumentalists of his generation: among his many honors are an Avery Fisher Career Grant, an MEF Career Grant and the Bronze Medal in the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has been featured on America Online as CultureFinder's "Star Find of the Week", on the Internet Cello Society as "Artist of the Month", and most recently in print in the newly published book "21st Century Cellists."
Mr. Tsang has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the New York, Moscow and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, the National, American, Pacific, Delaware and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the Taiwan National Orchestra. He has also collaborated with artists such as violinists Pamela Frank, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Akiko Meyers and Kyoko Takezawa, violist Michael Tree, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and double bassist Gary Karr. As a chamber musician, he is a frequent guest artist of the Boston Chamber Music Society and Bargemusic and performs at festivals such as Marlboro Music, the Portland and Seattle Chamber Music Festivals, Bravo! Colorado and the Laurel Festival of the Arts, where he serves as Artistic Director.
In recent seasons, Mr. Tsang made solo debuts at Orchestra Hall in Chicago with Zubin Mehta and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, at the Esplanade in Boston with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, in Germany with the Ensemble del Arte, and in France at the Festival du Cinema Russe a Honfleur. He also gave the U.S. premiere of the Enescu Symphonie Concertante, Op. 8 with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, the Boston premiere of the Korngold Cello Concerto, Op. 37, and the world premiere of a new concerto written for him by Noam David Elkies.
Mr. Tsang's 2000-2001 season featured his solo debuts with orchestras in Flagstaff, AZ, Northbrook, IL and Kalamazoo, MI as well as a live broadcast on WGBH Boston's Classical Performances and a recital on WCRB Boston's Classical at Copley Concert Series. This season, Mr. Tsang opens the 44th Season of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra performing the Dvorak Cello Concerto. Other upcoming highlights include a performance of Tan Dun's new Crouching Tiger Concerto at Atlanta's Symphony Hall, a solo recital on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series in Chicago, his debut with the Bismarck Symphony Orchestra in North Dakota, as well as concerts at Les MusiCimes in Courchevel, France. The French label Suoni e Colori will soon release his recording of the Kodaly Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8.
Mr. Tsang made his professional debut at age eleven in two concerts with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. That same year he returned to perform two more concerts with Maestro Mehta and the Philharmonic. One of these performances was broadcast worldwide on the CBS Festival of Lively Arts television series. While still in his teens, he became the youngest cellist ever to receive a Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Prize and the youngest recipient ever of an Artists International Award. He was also chosen as a Finalist of the NFAA's Arts Recognition and Talent Search and subsequently as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. At age nineteen, Tsang became the youngest cellist to win a prize in the VIII International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Born in Michigan of Chinese parents, Bion Tsang began piano studies at age six and cello at age seven. The following year, he entered the Juilliard School to study cello with Ardyth Alton. His other cello teachers have included: Luis Garcia-Renart, Aldo Parisot, William Pleeth, Channing Robbins, and Leonard Rose. Tsang received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and his Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University, where he is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate.
In his spare time, Bion helps his family run the Paul J. Tsang Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed to help facilitate educational or career opportunities for promising students and professionals in the arts and sciences. He also enjoys playing golf and following the ups and downs of the Miami Dolphins. (Photo by Al Edwards)