Portal:Philadelphia/Selected biography archive/19

Sarah Chang is a classical violinist recognized as a child prodigy who first played as a soloist when she was eight years old. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School and has performed as a soloist with many of the world's major orchestras. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Voorhees—a Philadelphia suburb—she is the daughter of Myoung-Jun, a composer, and Min-Soo Chang, who was a violinist and music teacher. Her mother trained her to play one-finger melodies on the piano at age three. For her fourth birthday, she was given a 1/16-sized violin. In 1986, when Chang was five years old, she auditioned for and was accepted to the Juilliard School by performing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. She auditioned at the age of eight with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic, as well as Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Both conductors granted her immediate engagements. In 1991, when Chang was ten years old, she recorded her first album, Debut, which entered the Billboard chart of classical best-sellers. In 2006, Newsweek ranked her as one of the Top Eight Achieving Females in the United States. Chang has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and many others. Chang has been a soloist under many famous conductors including Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Plácido Domingo, and John Williams. Notable recital engagements have included her Carnegie Hall debut and performances at the Kennedy Center, Boston's Symphony Hall, London's Barbican Centre, and Berlin's Philharmonie.