Violinist Sarah Chang on The Importance of Keeping Touring Repertoire Fresh
Violin virtuoso Sarah Chang discusses how she keeps her repertoire fresh while touring with them for months.
Do you sometimes feel bored by the repetitive performances of a certain work on stage because you've been doing it for a hundred times? The thing is, one has to keep in mind that there are always new audiences who may have not heard of you, or the work, and it is your responsibility as an artist to always bring forth the best possible interpretation you have to offer. For touring soloists, keeping repertoire fresh is of utmost importance. How do they achieve this?
Korean-American violin superstar, Sarah Chang, shares her expert advice on the topic.
Violinist Sarah Chang talks about why keeping touring repertoire fresh is crucial
I'm incredibly careful about rep selection, mainly because I never want to go onstage with a work I don't love, but also because I don't ever want to become bored with a piece or go into auto pilot.
I schedule my calendar in a way so that I'm constantly switching rep (sometimes too much)! It's rare that I get to keep the same concerto for two consecutive weeks in a row, so that means there’s very little chance of getting too bored or too comfortable.
I find that working with a different conductor or different orchestra every week also helps. Being surrounded by new energy and different personalities, combined with the give and take onstage, the chamber music element, and most importantly, the all-too-mysterious aspect of personal chemistry, alters every performance from week to week.
I also find myself wanting to explore different repertoire in waves. Sometimes I'm knee deep in endless Concerti, sometimes I want to explore the duo recital rep and look at more Sonatas, and other times I find myself craving more chamber music with friends. Luckily, the violin repertoire is so massive that we will never run out of music to learn!
I'm very fortunate to have a team of the very best managers, agents, and assistants in the business taking care of me, who always encourage me to take time for myself to learn new rep as well as explore and grow as a human being. At the end of the day, the most important thing as a performer is to deliver when you're onstage, whether you're playing a piece for the 1st or 1000th time, and you can only do that honestly and completely as a musician if you're ready to share your entire heart.
–Sarah
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Sarah Chang is recognised as one of the world’s great violinists. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 8 she has performed with the most distinguished orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades.
january 2025