Rare young talent

Violinist Sarah Chang first picked up a teeny, tiny, one-sixteenth size violin at the age of 4. After two years, the whiz kid was already studying at the Juilliard School in New York with the renowned violin teacher Dorothy DeLay.

If anyone would have difficulty shedding the child prodigy label, it would be Chang, a Korean-American wunderkind who has grown up almost entirely in the public eye.

“The label never seems to peel off,” Chang confirmed in a phone interview from Germany. “For some reason, my debut CD at age 9 sticks in people’s heads, even though I’ve made many, many CDs.”

Now 28, Chang has emerged from her precocious youth as one of the most satisfying artists working today, with a strong vision to match her technical prowess and a gracious demeanor that belies the diva stereotype.

We caught up with Chang toward the end of an extensive tour of Asia and Europe, while she was in the midst of recording the Brahms and Bruch violin concertos with Kurt Masur and the Dresden Philharmonic.

The versatile violinist will return to the Napa Valley Festival del Sole for the opening chamber music concert on July 18, performing Brahms’ Sonata in D minor at the Napa Valley Opera House. She also will perform the beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on July 19 at the Lincoln Theater.

The festival continues with classical stars such as soprano Renee Fleming and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes through July 25 at various venues throughout the Napa Valley.

“I love the whole concept, with the cooking and the wine and the music,” Chang said of the festival now entering its fourth season. “I don’t think there’s anything quite like it, where they explore all the senses together.”

Here are some of Chang’s thoughts on the classical music world, life as a child prodigy and the hidden costs of life on the road:

Q: You grew up in a musical family in Philadelphia — your mother is a composer and your father is a violinist. What was that like?

A: Philly is a very, very cultural city. We have a great orchestra, and music was always in the house.

I’m living in Villanova now — it’s a beautiful area outside Philadelphia — and I have a gorgeous home. I’m never there, but I love it when I’m there. Mom lives in Philly, dad is in Korea, and my brother goes to Princeton.

What was it like attending Juilliard and performing professionally at such a young age?

At Juilliard, I was 10 years younger than the rest of the students. It didn’t hit me until I was a teen-ager, and all my friends went to bars and I couldn’t. Other than that, it was a great environment ... I was surrounded by so much great talent.

Performing was something new and fun, and I was known as the new face on the block. It can be fun, but after a while, that gets tiring.

When did you realize, in your own mind, that you had outgrown the child prodigy label?

When I was in my teens, I realized that the musicians I was working with were always fair and never cut me any slack for being young. So I thought, if they’re not cutting me any slack, why do I have to deal with the down side?

The classical music industry, out of all the other musical genres out there, is probably one of the fairest professions. It’s very honest. In spite of all the marketing and the fluff, what it boils down to is, can you deliver or not? Can you play or not play? I like the black-and-whiteness of it. If you do deliver, and you’re with colleagues and you love being on stage, everything else fades away.

What are the benefits of getting an early start?

Because I’ve been in the music world so long, I already know who I’m playing with. I have my favorite conductors and orchestras ... I can pick the festivals and the concerts I want to do. Every concert I do is with friends and people I know I have chemistry with.

You play a 1717 Guarneri del Gesu violin. What do you like about this particular instrument?

(Violin virtuoso) Isaac Stern helped me find it. He was the absolute greatest. He had an incredibly generous spirit. Even with everything else going on, he was always looking after the next generation. When I was 13 or 14, my hands were finally big enough to use a full-size instrument, and he put the word out there.

I think my instrument is very much like me in character. It has a huge, gorgeous dramatic sound — it’s a very powerful instrument — and over the years, I learned that it does have a sweet and tender side that you sort of have to coax out of it. And it’s quite temperamental. It will tell you that it’s unhappy very quickly, when you take it from Europe to New York to Aspen.

You’ll be playing a Brahms sonata with pianist Andrew von Oeyen on the opening night of the Napa Valley Festival del Sole. What is the most challenging part of playing this work?

Brahms is one of the most beautiful and most stamina-wrenching composers. He’s so tiring to play. He picks every emotion out of you, and it’s not the easy emotion. It’s not just a big, loud dramatic piece. There needs to be a nobility and serenity, on top of all the drama. It’s a tug-of-war between giving all you have, and giving it an elegance, which is even harder to do.

I’m the first to say concertos are my bread and butter. That’s where I’m the most at home. The sonata is chamber music, and that’s a lot of extra work. But Andrew is phenomenal. He and I have a huge recital trip coming up. It’s really very good that I finally found a pianist who is a solid companion and partner.

What is your advice to young, classical musicians considering a career?

Make sure that you really, really want it. There’s a lot that goes on in the music world. The parts that you do see are amazing: the concerts, the records, the press and the musical fans are so amazing. There isn’t any other fan that is so loyal.

But people don’t tell you about the travel. You’re never in one place for very long. You’re perpetually jet-lagged. I just got in from Asia, it’s 5 a.m., and I’m staring up at the ceiling and thinking, who can I call at this time?

But if you don’t mind the travel, then it’s great. It’s a lot of fun, and you get to experience so many different cities and amazing foods. The entire world is your shopping mall.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@

pressdemocrat.com.