Key masters

“Duke Ellington said there are only two types of music: good music and bad music, which I whole-heartedly believe,” said 15-year-old pianist Sebastian Chang. “[Music] by Coldplay deserves as much recognition as any classical music. Every musician has put a part of themselves into their work … and people have to keep in mind that all good music can be appreciated in the same way.”

Chang performs Nov. 16 and 18 with the Reno Philharmonic. If you haven’t seen the Philharmonic yet this year, you have already missed two of their concerts. Shame on you. If you haven’t seen the Reno Chamber Orchestra, you’ve missed one of their concerts. You should feel guilty, not just for failing to support the local arts scene, but for depriving yourself of submersion in a wash of classical music culture.

This is a monumental year for both organizations. Reno Phil celebrates its 35th anniversary and Reno Chamber celebrates its 30th with a brand new music director and conductor, Theodore Kuchar. (He succeeds Vahe Khochayan, who headed the orchestra for its first 29 years. This is a big deal!)

One of Reno Philharmonic’s more exciting performances of the season will be the one that includes Chang’s rendering of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Chang is the 2002 Davidson Fellow Laureate, and it is said that he brings flair and character to his piano performances that seem more fitting of someone two or three times his age.

Chang lives in Orange County, Calif., and this will the first time he has visited Reno. He’s your average Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-type prodigy. Playing piano at age 4. Composing at age 5. Performing his compositions with international orchestras at age 9. Such a talented musician at such an ingenuous age, it’s good to hear that Chang has not forever sworn himself only to classical music. He is open-minded when it comes to his tastes, and he is full of uncertainty and excitement concerning his future.

With movies like School of Rock showing kids that they can put their classical music training to rock ‘n’ roll use, Chang admits that classical composers often too readily cement themselves into classical venues.

“While [these] are wonderful venues,” Chang said, “they don’t seem to reach out into today’s MTV generation. While classical is the music that I predominantly perform, it’s not the only medium I’m interested in. I like jazz, Miles David. I like Radiohead and Coldplay … I’m open to all kinds of music.”

Chang says he’s been influenced by every musician, contemporary or classical, that he’s ever listened to, yet he is very modest about his talents and dismisses the complexity associated with composing.

“A lot of people think of composition as this daunting task with lots of scribbling and note-taking. It did not start that way for me at all. When it boils down to it, composing is really improvisation. … When people are staggered at a composer’s ability, they should know that it’s really not that hard. I think everyone is a composer in their own right; they just have to figure out how to harness their own energy.”

Between the precocious Chang and Kuchar—who beat out over 140 candidates from 10 countries to win the position with Reno Chamber Orchestra—both the Reno Philharmonic and Reno Chamber promise high-caliber classical, and not-so-classical, entertainment. Reno Chamber’s third concert this season is on Nov. 15 and features Grammy-winning artist Toni Tenille singing torch songs, classic jazz and show tunes accompanied on piano by the renowned jazz musician Matt Catingub.

Now that you know the dates and the players, there are no more excuses to avoid the Reno musical arts scene.