NEWPORT CELEBRATES 34 YEARS

Mei-Ting Sun at The Breakers

NEWPORT, RI (July 12, 2002)—10,001 grand piano pieces danced to the music in the sultry summer night. A river of melodious notes cascaded over the astounded guests. A pianist loomed over the keys in midnight black tuxedo tails. That pianist was Mei-Ting Sun, who performed at the Opening Night Gala during the 34th Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island in July. The young Chinese/American still shining from his first place win at the June International Piano-e-Competition held in Minneapolis, replaced Georgian pianist Eliso Virsaladze, who was forced to cancel due to visa delays. At the breathtaking Breakers mansion, among ten of the concert locations for the festival, Sun performed on the CFIIIS concert grand piano, one of 24 pianos Yamaha provided for the festival season. Other Yamaha pianos included a DC7 Pro at Ochre Court and a C7 at the Elms. This year, Yamaha celebrates its 15th anniversary as lead sponsor for the Newport Music Festival.

"If there were one replacement I could have prayed for for Eliso Virsaladze, it would have been Mei-Ting Sun," notes Dr. Mark P. Malkovich, general director of the Festival. "Yamaha and Terry Lewis came through for the Newport Festival again."

"When I heard the news about Mme. Virsaladze not coming due to immigration regulations, I called Dr. Malkovich, and he agreed that Mei-Ting was an excellent choice," notes Terry Lewis, senior vice president at Yamaha Corporation of America. "What an unique honor it is to have such a long-standing relationship with Newport Music Festival."

"I found out about the concert five days before I played, so I couldn't practice much," says pianist Mei-Ting Sun. "My performance took place using a Yamaha CFIIIS piano, a piano of very high quality. I prefer them to most of the other top pianos out there." Among the works Sun performed Friday evening was "Three Sonatas," by Scarlatti, Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Paganini," and he concluded with Wagner's "Overture to Tannhauser."

The Newport Music Festival was founded in 1969 as an attempt by the Metropolitan Opera to establish a summer season in Newport. The early festival utilized many members of the orchestra and was the forerunner of the Romantic revival, now popular worldwide. The festival has become world-renowned for presenting young international artists in their North American debuts and for providing the showcase for emerging American artists. It presents sixty-four concerts each season for seventeen days in mid-July. This year, 52 artists from around the world, including 15 Newport Music Festival debuts, will perform over 800 pieces of music for over 30,000 attendees.

In addition to Mei-Ting Sun, fifteen artists made their Festival debuts, including pianists Ludmil Angelov from Bulgaria, Alexander Korsantia from the Republic of Georgia, Alexander Melnikov from Russia, Klara Wurtz from Hungary, and making his North American debut from the Republic of Georgia, Sandro Tsomaya.

The popular retrospectives of major composers continue at Newport with a series of "Chopiniads." Eighteen afternoon programs were devoted to the complete chamber music and piano masterpieces of 19th Century Polish composer Frédéric-François Chopin, a total of three hundred and five individual pieces of his music were performed.

Mei-Ting Sun, a native of Shanghai, received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Mannes College of Music, where he studied with Edward Aldwell. Currently, he is a C. V. Starr Fellow at The Juilliard School School of Music, studying with Robert MacDonald.

Sun's upcoming engagements include a Doctoral recital at The Juilliard School on October 12th, a concert tour of Spain in March of 2003, an Alice Tully Hall debut recital in the Spring of 2003, and concerto engagements with the Winnipeg and Richmond Symphonies in the 2004 season. As part of the successful performances he has received since winning the competition, Mei-Ting Sun performed a Newport Music Festival reprise of Wagner's "Tannhaeuser Overture" on National Public Radio, July 23rd.

For more information about Mei-Ting Sun, visit www.mp3.com/thepianist.