Jacobs School Piano Concerto Competition winner announced

Tina Chong has been added to the ranks of winners of the Jacobs School of Music Piano Concerto Competition.

Chong, a first-year arts diploma student of professor Arnaldo Cohen, will be featured with the University Orchestra, conducted by Kevin Noe, at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Musical Arts Center.

The program will include Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Op 45.

“I am greatly honored to have been giving this opportunity to perform one of my favorite pieces with orchestra,” said Chong in a press release.

“The chance to make music with my fellow classmates will be an exciting and rewarding experience.”

Hailed as a “paradigm of lyricism” by the Charleston Gazette, Chong had her orchestral debut at the age of nine.

She has appeared as a guest soloist numerous times with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico, including the Calgary Philharmonic, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

Chong has performed recitals in venues worldwide, such as the Sala Chopin in Mexico City and the Sheldon Center in St. Louis. She was most recently invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“Tina is certainly one of the most talented musicians we have, and it is a delight to have her as a student,” said Cohen in a press release.