Photo: Allen McCullough Issue No. 4: August 2011 Greetings from Tien's World Dear Friends and Colleagues: As I look forward to seeing you and connecting with you at the Annual Conference Frenzy, please find below a few updates that may be of interest to you! 1. Mostly Transcriptions CD: Debut CD earns praises from the American Record Guide and New York Concert Review. Please see quotes below. 2. Happy Anniversary: Fall of 2011 marks my 10th year conferencing. What began as an adventure into the dungeon bloomed into a community of learning, exploring and friendships. Conference schedule below. 3. Beethoven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC1qKTKuezE Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111(I) 4. .Com: Check out new additions at www.tienhsieh.com. Hint: Click on Biography and Press Quotes. 4. Birth of a Festival: Vision of a festival became reality on June 10, 2011. As founding artistic director, curator and co-founder, check out the four inaugural festival components at Classical Masters Music Festival. I thank you for enjoying Greetings from Tien's World! Cheers, Tien Revisit the past issues of Tien's E-Newsletter! Where is Tien? Western Arts Alliance: Booths 651 and 210 August 29-September 2, 2011 Seattle, Washington *Fans of Action Figure Drawing: Enter drawing at 651 for Special Anniversary Prizes! Ten winners. All conference delegates are eligible. Midwest Arts Conference: Booth 832A September 7-10, 2011 Minneapolis, MN Arts Northwest: Booths 47 and 55A October 17-20, 2011 Eugene, Oregon *Fans of Action Figure Drawing: Enter drawing at 47 for Special Anniversary Prizes! Ten winners. All conference delegates are eligible. Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP): Booth 101 January 6-10, 2012 New York, New York *Tien will be present at red booths Artist Representation: Cadence Arts Network, Inc. Visit Rachel Cohen at the following conference sites! E-mail: rachel@cadencearts.com Telephone: 310.838.0849, 310.701.9191 Cell Questions: Tien Hsieh E-mail: tienhsieh@aol.com Contact during conference: 646.345.8535 (Cell) Upcoming Performances: November 14-15, 2011 El Dorado Community Concert Association Solo Recital and Outreach Programs El Dorado, CA November 20, 2011 Manteca Kindred Arts Concert Association Manteca, CA Performances Offered: Solo recitals (free choice programming), solo theme recitals, soloist with orchestra and chamber music with piano. Sample Theme Recital Programs Mostly Transcriptions Romanticism Magnified Triple Musical Feast Tribute to Franz Liszt Full Program by Composer: Liszt, Schumann, Beethoven, Bach, Busoni, Chopin and more! Sonatas: Scarlatti, Brahms, Beethoven Variations: Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Schumann Residency/Outreach/Educational Description Outreach programs are an integral aspect of the enrichment and educational experience. Programs are suitable for performing arts centers, K-12, collegiate/university, audience/community at large, special interest groups (music teachers, young musicians, etc) and all communities interested in cultural enrichment. Formats are flexible and range from lecture-recitals, symposiums, in-school, community outreach, pre-concert talks, master classes to informal forums, youth performance workshops and round table discussions. Click here to see and listen to all audio and video clips >>> CD Reviews: Mostly Transcriptions CD - complimentary CDs will be available for presenting organizations at 2011/12 conferences. Keen ear with grace and energy. "The effect is that Liszt himself was in my living room, creating extempore fantasias on pieces he loved, or spontaneously transcribing and embellishing the music at sight...Hsieh plays with grace and energy. She has a keen ear for the music's architecture, and make the piano sing in every register." American Record Guide (May/June, 2011) Magnetic musical persona. "In commenting upon this recorded anthology, I can reiterate that Tien Hsieh is a formidable virtuoso and also a magnetic musical persona...Miraculously and convincingly recreated. In terms of color, texture and concentration on detail, she immediately makes you sit up and take notice!" New York Concert Review (February, 2011) CD currently available for purchase at retailers including: Amazon.com: Mostly Transcriptions: Bach, Busoni, Schubert, Liszt, Tien Hsieh: Music Mostly Transcriptions / Tien Hsieh | ArkivMusic Mostly Transcriptions, Tien Hsieh, Music CD - Barnes & Noble Dowling Music : Mostly Transcriptions CD - Tien Hsieh, pianist - TI-273 Click here for full reviews >>> Performance Reviews: Evocative and virtuosic. "...emphasis on sonority in the foreground of her interpretation. The result is an evocation of music for the organ that tends to be more imaginative than the full-orchestra treatments one encounters from the likes of Leopold Stokowski (which is saying something, since Stokowski was also an organist). Hsieh's interpretation of the entire program of the capriccio was as evocative as her reading of the fugue was virtuosic." San Francisco Examiner (August 16, 2011) Superior. "It is hard to imagine Opus 9 (Schumann's Carnaval) getting a reading superior to the one she offered." San Francisco Examiner (August, 2010) Wild ride. "I always look forward to Tien Hsieh's piano recitals. One rarely encounters quite such a wild ride, but it was this kind of a ride that best illustrated the dark side of Florestan's true nature." (Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26) San Francisco Examiner (April, 2010) Doing justice. "There are "Brahmins" who think to find in their God the breath of old men of genius: they love Beethoven in Brahms. Thus, it is rare to find a pianist with a repertoire that gives a "fair shake" to both Liszt and Brahms. Tien Hsieh is such a pianist. In short, she approaches the keyboard with a psychological disposition that can give as much justice to Brahms as to Liszt." San Francisco Examiner (July 2009) Breathtaking. "Taiwanese born Tien Hsieh gave a brilliant performance of this pianistically demanding work, her crashing chords, bravura runs and swirling scales were truly breathtaking." The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon (May, 2009) Compelling. "The unusually impressive recital on May 18 commenced with a compelling, thrusting and beautifully organized reading of the Bach-Busoni Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 654." New York Concert Review (May 2008) Masterfully interpreted. "Beethoven's last sonata, No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 was masterfully interpreted and wonderfully organized...I repeat, this account of Op. 111 was one of the most memorable and deeply moving that this lifelong Beethoven worshipper has ever hear-it was that superb!" New York Concert Review (May, 2008) Commanding technique. "Her live recording demonstrates her commanding technique and an orchestral-like sonority at the piano." Seattle Times (November, 2007) Powerful. "Powerful crescendos and diminuendos, not to mention her impressive technique...with great vigor and passion. Her performance was so refined that she received a very enthusiastic standing ovation." European Weekly (November, 2007) Dazzling. "...suitably dazzling in the best Rachmaninoff tradition." (Of J.S. Bach's Violin Partita in E major in transcription by Sergei Rachmaninoff) San Francisco Examiner (August, 2007) Olympian. "It requires seemingly in sound alone seven hands; it allows only two. Hsieh traveled this whirlpool of technical command through chaos into calm with enlightened insight and scholarly devotion that dazzled. Definitely a student of Olympian deeds, pianist Hsieh traveled her formidable, thoroughly exciting program, with her wits and her virtuoso flights into the sublime on the same page. Bravo." Pacifica Tribune, CA (October, 2006) Exploding with vigor. "Tien Hsieh took the audience by surprise when she played (Beethoven) Choral Fantasy for Piano and Chorus. It looked as though her entire being was exploding with vigor as sounds seemingly poured from her fingertips." Bonner County Daily Bee, Sandpoint, ID (August, 2005) Spellbinding. "Her profound expressiveness and ultimate musicianship was so spellbinding it totally absorbed we listeners." Georgetown Gazette, CA (April, 2005) Feverishly focused. "Like the music, she appeared calm and subdued at times and then feverishly focused (Beethoven's Emperor Concerto)...By the completion of the rondo allegro, she had her head nearly resting on the instrument before her, coaxing its newly restored beauty into the air of the night. Hsieh received an ovation from the audience, who requested several bows of her before she could leave the stage." Redlands Daily Facts, CA (July, 2004) Michelangelo. "... even Bach must have been as captivated as Hsieh's audience; here poignancy and delicacy reigned until exploding into an upbeat fugal ending...With Schumann's Symphonic Etudes and Scriabin's Sonata No. 3, Hsieh's speed and power were remarkable, her surety through complex passages to be envied by anyone who sat at a keyboard...And then the encore-the Schumann/Liszt Widmung Dedication- floated from her heart as much as from the piano! With these Tien Hsieh played like Michelangelo who discovered his sculptures within the marble." Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, California (April, 2004) Enraptured. "Youthful classical pianist Tien Hsieh dazzled an enraptured audience...resulting in a round of standing applause." Lake County Record Bee, Clearlake, CA (April, 2003) Poet. "Serious, composed, tiny and full of music, Tien Hsieh lets her artistry on the piano express a warmth and freshness of ideas that surely none but a poet could explain. " Pacifica Tribune, California (November, 2003) Electrifying. "Tien Hsieh delivered electrifying performances of music of monumentally heroic difficulty. Works by Messiaen, Beethoven and finally Liszt's Rhapsodie Espagnole were breathtaking in their technical quality and interpretive maturity." The Carmel Pine Cone, California (April, 1998) Praise from The Great Northwest: "Tien Hsieh gave an unforgettable concert at the Chilkat Center for the Arts. Her performance ranged from beautiful, delicate whispers to heart-stopping storms of pure passion. Her absolute virtuosity was impressive, and her willingness to interact with the audience provided just the right kind of personal touch that made the evening so fulfilling. Personable, gracious, and fun-loving, Tien Hsieh is a presenter's dream and an audience's delight." Haines Arts Council, Alaska March, 2011 "Tien Hsieh evoked so many feelings in us in such a short time! I have heard and experienced the power of music, of course, but so much more was happening this weekend, than just music. I have only been "back in town" for a day and, already, so many people have expressed many different reactions to the power of you. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible passion and personality with our community. You have made a difference in our lives, our hearts and our futures. I am so thankful for what you brought and all that you left. You are making a difference in many lives. We look forward to welcoming you back to Raymond Theatre." "What a week-brightener your performance(s) at the Raymond Theatre were. Thank you for coming. You made classical music exciting. We hung on to every note even though most of your selections were unfamiliar to us." Sunday Afternoon Live Raymond Theater, WA March, 2011 "Celebrating its 26th season, the Water Music Festival, held annually in October on the Long Beach Peninsula of Washington, welcomed Pianist Tien Hsieh this past October. Tien's personality and sense of humor, her stage presence, her connection with her audience, and her exquisite artistry are all beyond remarkable. I am one of many who could have listened for hours and hours to her presentation and interpretation of intricate and compelling classical works. Tien possesses a rare blend of exhibiting great talent while stirring the souls of those for whom she performs. This quality does not exist in all artists, and it is because of this combination that Water Music Festival would be eager to have her back time and time again. Concertgoers want to be entertained, they want to walk away happy and satisfied, they want good value, and they want their souls to be enhanced by the experience. Without a doubt, Tien achieves all this and more. To any presenter being as fortunate as we were to be able to invite her to perform, I would only add this: Do so immediately - she is an outstanding performer and human being." Water Music Festival, WA December, 2010 Robert Schumann Bicentennial Recitals in San Francisco, CA, 2010-2011: Works include Humoreske, Op. 20, Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13, Papillons, Op.2, Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 and Carnaval, Op. 9 Audio and Video: Arts Northwest Cyber Stage - Tien Hsieh - Concert Pianist Tien Hsieh: Audio & Video Clips Amazon.com : Music Sampler See more at Tien's official website: www.tienhsieh.com MP3 Music Samples, Video Clips, Press Photos, Reviews and More!