SARAH CHANG
Violinist
I love being onstage. It is the most comfortable place for me. I
travel all year long, and every week is a new city. So I'm always
in extremely unfamiliar surroundings, living out of hotels and
suitcases. And the only familiar place, really, even if you go from
hall to hall, is the stage itself and the backstage area. For me,
the stage is my home.
I love the adrenaline rush you get from having a live audience in
front of you. There's nothing like performing live. I like to
categorize classical music as one of those really beautiful,
glamorous gems from the old era. The men are in tails onstage, the
women are in beautiful dresses and the soloist comes out in a
gorgeous evening gown. I really, really love that old-school
glamour.
For me, concert days are always exciting. It doesn't matter if I
give 100 concerts or 150 concerts that season. Every concert is
magical. Every concert has a sparkle to it. The challenge is to
keep myself fresh and to give a spontaneous performance every
single night while maturing and growing as a musician every day.
The whole art form of being onstage is so mysterious and magical,
it fascinates me.
People assume I always wanted to be a violinist. It was actually
just one of many other hobbies that I had. I had very enthusiastic
parents. They gave me swimming lessons and horseback riding and
gymnastics and ballet. My mom put me on the piano when I was about
3i. I asked for the violin when I was 4 because I wanted something
that was smaller and more portable. I auditioned for the Juilliard
School when I was about 6. During the week, I went to a regular
school in Philadelphia so I could be with kids my own age. But on
Saturdays, my mom would drive me to Juilliard in New York. I was by
far the youngest person there. The majority of the students were
14, 15 and older. There were times when I was painfully aware of
the age difference. But on a musical level, it was such a great
environment to grow up in because the talent around me was just
astronomical.
I started my career when I was 8 with two debuts in New York and
Philadelphia, and then I started recording when I was 9. When
you're so young, you don't realize the impact of a New York
Philharmonic debut. You're told to do something and you go out and
do it and you don't ask too many questions. I think the questions
come later when you're in your teens. By the time I was 14, I was
spending probably half the year in Europe. So I was out of school a
lot. I did most of my homework by e-mail or fax. We made it work
because my professors were incredible.
When you're a girl in your early teens, you've obviously got
insecurities. You are beginning to form new friendships and
relationships with people. And your clothes never quite fit right.
On top of that, I had the career and then the photo sessions and
having to be onstage and have every concert reviewed by the press.
It was an added layer. But I think having a career at such an early
age kept me focused. We schedule at least two to three years in
advance in the classical industry. So it was good to have that
stability. I felt so grounded and so grateful to already know what
it was that I wanted to do with my life.
Music takes me everywhere. A few years ago I had a chance to go to
North Korea to do a joint concert with the North and South Korean
orchestras in Pyongyang. That was totally, totally eye-opening. I
am very much an American. I was born and brought up here with
Korean parents. But this was beyond anything else I had ever seen
before. You've got armed guards everywhere and you can't go
anywhere or do anything. There's no communication with the outside
world. The concert was full of government officials. Every single
last seat. It was invitation only, but it was an unbelievable
experience. Frightening and exhilarating at the same time. And I
just thought about how lucky I am. I am so fortunate to be a
musician, and at that moment, I genuinely felt that music is the
one and only universal language.