A New York Times headline appropriately characterized the Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo as “two pianos, four hands but one heart.” The duo made its debut in October 2003 when Per Tengstrand and Shan-shan Sun performed Mozart’s Two Piano Concerto with the Canton (Ohio) Symphony under music director Gerhardt Zimmermann. This led to their decision to participate in the Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in December of 2003. The pianists spent two months, working both on their own, and with Dominique Weber in Geneva, preparing for the finals. They were awarded first prize, and a new entity was born.
The Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo’s engagements for the 2007-08 season include performing Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto in A-flat Major with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and recitals for Four Seasons Concerts in Oakland and the Wolf Trap Foundation. Last season, they performed on the Rockefeller University evening series and as the closing concert of the prestigious Sarasota Concert Association. During Sweden’s 2006 Helsingborg Piano Festival, they gave their first performance of the Bartok Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion. Also in Sweden, they performed Mozart’s Two Piano Concerto along with several other duo recitals.
The duo made their New York recital debut in Merkin Hall in 2004 and performed there the following season. In 2005, they received a grant from the Salon de Virtuosi in New York City.
Tengstrand-Sun Duo’s latest release is on the Mindfeel label and includes works by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Lutoslawski and Milhaud. Tengstrand also is represented on the Pro Piano label and Sun on the China Records label. A recording titled Mozart for Mothers was recently released on CD for the composer’s 250th anniversary.
Per Tengstrand was born in Sweden and made his first public appearance when he was seven years old. He studied at the Paris and Geneva conservatories and took first prize at the 1997 Cleveland International Piano Competition. He enjoys great success internationally and is the subject of an acclaimed Swedish documentary titled Solisten (The Soloist).
Shan-shan Sun gave her first public performance in her native China at the age of six. At age nine, she was admitted to the Young Artist Program at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, performing throughout China. In 1991, she relocated to the United States, continuing her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is an active soloist, as well as a chamber musician. Among her piano instructors have been Paul Schenly, Anne Epperson, Sergei Babayan, Qing-hua Wang and Susan Starr.
Both take a special interest in presenting the repertoire of transcribed symphonic works in smaller cities where these works would otherwise not be heard. They are active participants of educational outreach in schools, pursuing a mission to bring classical music to young people.
“The Andante movement was lovely, featuring a relaxed quality with sweet melodies. A listener had difficulty telling which pianist played which run, so well integrated were their parts.” — Kalamazoo Gazette |
