a portrait of shuann sitting on the floor near her historical piano
Shuann Chai is a versatile pianist who performs on a wide range of early to modern pianos.
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Shuann Chai proves to be a master interpreter who puts her playing and the fortepiano one hundred percent in the service of Schubert and opens up new interpretative and sonic perspectives for us all. Highly recommended!

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For Shuann, music is a personal means of communication. She sees performance as an opportunity to connect with an audience, as well as a chance to bring the emotional content of music from the past to listeners in the present.
“A performance is like a snapshot of where you are that day. It’s something that evolves over time.”
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In her new recording of Beethoven’s complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin with violinist Shunske Sato, Shuann brings knowledge, insight, and bold emotionality to a boundary-challenging set of 3 CDs. Released together with the CDs is a video of the complete ‘Kreutzer’ sonata, filmed during the recording session.
The goal for both of us is to play Beethoven’s music by playing with it. Beethoven had so much to say, and he left us with so many possibilities. His scores are like treasure maps - there’s something wonderful everywhere you look.

fun facts

Studied the viola as a secondary instrument and still has a soft spot for the sound of an open C string

Most picturesque concert hall she ever played in? Troldsalen in Bergen, Norway: the lakeside cottage where Grieg wrote much of his music is visible from the stage...

Loves studying languages and recently earned her A2 certificate in Japanese

Started piano lesson at age 5 at the local YWCA

As a child, she collected vintage postage stamps, shark teeth, and fossils

Alongside her piano studies, she graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in biology

She was born in Gainsville, Florida, (USA) where her dad was a NASA Scientist

Lives in The Hague,
the Netherlands

She grew up helping in her mom's Chinese restaurant and is still an avid cook of all cuisines

While performing, Shuann is a real storyteller. This comes from an enduring interest in narrative and its context, and in bringing the music to life.
“What draws me into a piece of music is the stories the music can tell. What can we learn about the composer? About their time, their emotions? And what’s happening in this piece, is there action, or romance, or suspense…? If I find an emotional connection to the music, others can connect with it too.”

bio at a glance

Upcoming Recordings
Cobra Records, October 2024
• Boxed set of Beethoven violin sonatas
with Shunske Sato, violin
Sony Records Japan, 2025
• Boxed set of Brahms Piano Trios, Cello Sonatas, and Violin Sonatas
with Shunske Sato, violin
and Hidemi Suzuki, cello
Selected
Recent Performances

De Doelen Rotterdam • Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden • Orlando Festival (NL) • Utrecht Early Music Festival • Suntory Hall Blue Rose (Tokyo) • Izumi Hall (Osaka) • Fukinoto Hall (Sapporo) • Ferdinandeum Museum (Innsbruck) • National Concert Hall of Taipei • Les Musicales de Normandie (France) • Gloppen Musikkfest (Norway)

Recent Collaborations

Hidemi Suzuki (cello) • Shunske Sato (violin) • Steuart Pincombe (cello) • Mattijs van de Woerd (baritone) • Noa Frenkel (alto) • the Dudok String Quartet

Selected masterclasses & workshops

Temple University • University of California at Davis • CodArts Rotterdam • Conservatorium of Amsterdam • Conservatorium of Maastricht • Gulanyu Piano Academy of Xiamen (China) • Central Conservatory of Beijing

Shuann curated her own fortepiano Festival in Zaandijk

Shuann is Professor of piano at Codarts Rotterdam

Engaging and creative, she initiated a number of multimedia projects. Working with other musicians, dancers, puppets, images, or texts, she is constantly searching for ways to share her passion for music, from the baroque to newly written compositions.
“In projects that combine music with something else, it is important to me that the musicians are a dynamic, interactive part of the show and not just accompanying from the side wings of the stage.”

Music & more

Amadeus
An Opera2Day/National Theater co-production

Pre-recorded piano performance for the character of Mozart, coached actors in onstage piano-playing

Where are we going? And what are we doing?
A Korzo/Cadance co-production

Modern dance, music of John Cage

Fairy Tales & Nightmares
A Korzo/Stichting Ciaconna co-production

Modern dance, music of Prokofiev, and life-size puppet by Duda Paiva

Beethoven in his own words

The complete Beethoven Sonatas performed with excerpts from his letters and some of his songs

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Allowing her playing to speak for itself, Chai took to the stage in a truly humble yet fresh way. Her touch on the keys gave an impression not only of clear artistic ownership of the repertoire but also a sensitive grasp on the resonance of the strings in the instrument.

Bachtrack

“I think of pianos as an extensive family tree, without a stark ‘historical/modern’ division, and I feel it is my task to get to know the piano that is in front of me. It plays a role in every interpretation, because each piano has its own character, its own voice.”
view her collection
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Johann Andreas Stein
Augsburg, 1785
copy by Philip Belt
Michael Rosenberger
Vienna, 1820
on loan from the NMF
Collard & Collard
London, 1840
Steinway & Sons
New York, Model D 371
Erard
Paris 1862
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Calendar

Saturday
Nov 16
2024
Beethoven Violin Sonatas
Beethoven: Sonatas & Variations

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Greifenberger Institut für Musikinstrumentenkunde
Tickets →
Sunday
Nov 17
2024
Beethoven Violin Sonatas
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas No. 6 & 9

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

KOM-Kulturwerkstatt, München
Tickets →
Sunday
Dec 1
2024
Duo Recital
Bach, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Poulenc, Schumann

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Hertz, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Tickets →
Saturday
Dec 7
2024
Mozart Piano Concerto
Mozart: Piano Concert in D Minor, K 466

Collegium Musicum Traiectum

Shuann Chai, solo piano

Geertekerk, Utrecht
Tickets →
Sunday
Dec 8
2024
Mozart Piano Concerto
Mozart: Piano Concert in D Minor, K 466

Collegium Musicum Traiectum

Shuann Chai, solo piano

Nieuwe Badkapel, The Hague
Tickets →
Saturday
Jan 4
2025
Duo Recital
Prokofiev

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Aalmarktzaal, Leiden
Tickets →
Thursday
Jan 16
2025
Beethoven Complete Violin Sonatas
Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas, part II

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

PHIL, Haarlem
Tickets →
Friday
Jan 17
2025
Beethoven Marathon I
Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas, part I

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Willem Twee, Den Bosch
Tickets →
Saturday
Jan 18
2025
Beethoven Marathon II
Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas, part II

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Willem Twee, Den Bosch
Tickets →
Saturday
Feb 22
2025
Beethoven Marathon
Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas

Shunske Sato, violin
Shuann Chai, piano

Salvia Hall, Yokohama
Tickets →
Tuesday
Mar 18
2025
Maastricht Chamber Music Festival

Masterclasses and Concerts at Conservatorium Maastricht

Conservatorium Maastricht
Tickets →
Wednesday
Mar 19
2025
Maastricht Chamber Music Festival

Masterclasses and Concerts at Conservatorium Maastricht

Conservatorium Maastricht
Tickets →
Thursday
Mar 20
2025
Maastricht Chamber Music Festival

Masterclasses and Concerts at Conservatorium Maastricht

Conservatorium Maastricht
Tickets →
Friday
Mar 21
2025
Maastricht Chamber Music Festival

Masterclasses and Concerts at Conservatorium Maastricht

Conservatorium Maastricht
Tickets →
Sunday
Mar 23
2025
Duo Recital
Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven

Shunske Sato, violin
Shuann Chai, piano

Laurentiuskerk, Kimswerd
Tickets →
Sunday
Mar 30
2025
Duo Recital
Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven

Shunske Sato, violin

Shuann Chai, piano

Muzenforum Concerten, Bloemendaal
Tickets →
Saturday
May 3
2025
Masterclass & Beethoven recital
Beethoven Violin Sonatas

Shunske Sato, violin
Shuann Chai, piano

Davidsbündler Academy, The Hague
Tickets →
Wednesday
Sep 10
2025
Duo Recital
Beethoven

Shunske Sato, violin
Shuann Chai, piano

Nicolaaskerk, Vlieland
Tickets →

Interview

Podcast Piano Whisperer
The life of a concert pianist
listen to the podcast
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portrait of Shuann at the piano
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Stimulating... Chai has a keen sense for the colouristic possibilities of her instrument

BBC Music Magazine

albums

Bee1h0ven

The Complete Violin Sonatas

Cobra Records (2024)

listen
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Extemporize

Schubert Impromptus & Fugues

Cobra Records (January 2024)

listen
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Kühl, nicht Lau

works by Kühlau & Beethoven with flutist Tami Krausz

Ramée Records (2020)

listen
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Beethoven Sonatas

Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata

Postern Park Digital (2011)

listen
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Scent of Pink

song cycle by René Samson with alto Noa Frenkel

Concertzender live recording (2019)

listen
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Shuann loves teaching. She is professor of Piano at the Classical Piano department at Codarts Rotterdam.
“It is so humbling when someone plays for you and entrusts themselves to your musicianship in such a way. I think of teaching as a dynamic interface where my aesthetic and their intentions meet. The energy and enthusiasm of young musicians is so moving, and I absolutely love being a part of that process.”
If she is not playing, practicing, or teaching, chances are you will find Shuann cooking, reading a book, being with her daughter or enjoying friends and family.

Contact

Personal assistant &
artist manager
Marloes Biermans