Jihye Chang - Boston Etudes (2024) Hi-Res

Boston based pianist Jihye Chang releases Boston Etudes, a collection of new works she commissioned in 2020-2021 from some of the region's most active composers, Stratis Minakakis, Yu-Hui Chang, William David Cooper, Eun Young Lee, John McDonald, Ketty Nez, Marti Epstein, and Dan VanHassel. Chang's commanding performances shine light on the burgeoning creativity on display amongst Boston's composer community, finding a canvas on which to paint here in new music for keyboard.

Etudes are fascinating windows into a composer’s style due to their enforced restrictions. Typically shorter works with a focus on at least one specific technical or musical challenge, they tend to impose a certain kind of economy of ideas and discipline of material. Pianist Jihye Chang has been fascinated by the virtuosic and whimsical nature of piano etudes and has featured them in recitals, commissioning projects, and lectures for the past decade. On this album, Chang explores the diverse and colorful landscape of Boston’s composers through the etude genre. The Boston Etudes project was developed during the pandemic years of 2020 – 2021, during which Chang commissioned and premiered eight new piano etudes by eight Boston based composers. The resulting collection of pieces is notable for being an engaging and wide-ranging representation of Chang’s recent work, the music of her composer colleagues, as well as a rich aesthetic style in the New England contemporary music community.