THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2017-2018 37
Jessie Chang found
her love for the piano
when she was three
and a half years
old and begged her
parents to take her to
lessons. After moving
to California when
she was nine, she had
lots of opportunities
to perform. After
winning over 30 local
and international
competitions, she entered the Manhattan School
of Music at age 16, under Constance Keene with
full scholarship. She graduated with a bachelor’s
degree and master’s degree in piano performance
and earned the “Best Female Pianist” award at both
of her commencements. Among the highlights of
her career, Chang was invited by composer Tan
Dun to perform his piano concerto The Banquet
and the Triple Concerto with the Macao Symphony
Orchestra under the composer’s direction. She
also had the privilege to appear at the Blossom
Festival with The Cleveland Orchestra playing
Mozart’s double concerto with her duo-partner
and husband, Jahja Ling. Chang has been featured
at the Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium,
Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium and in front of
28,000 people at Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta.
Chang has played with various other orchestras
including the San Diego Symphony, Rochester
Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Florida
Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Westchester
Philharmonic Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic,
China Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony
Orchestra, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, and
Guangzhou Symphony. Aside from performing,
Chang has also taught since she was 13. Right now,
she maintains teaching privately at her home studio
in Bonita, California.
JESSIE CHANG
Piano