Sarah Chang (born December 10, 1980) is an American violinist.
Chang was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Korean heritage. She asked her parents for a violin at the age of 3 and auditioned for the Juilliard School at 7 playing the Bruch Violin Concerto. She was admitted into the studio of Dorothy DeLay, violin teacher to some of the world's great violinists including Itzhak Perlman, Midori Goto, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz and many others, including Chang's father. She was also taught by Hyo Kang, a former student and assistant of DeLay.
Chang was recognized as a child prodigy early on and when she was 8, was given the opportunity to audition with such names as Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti, who were working, respectively, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Both gave her immediate engagements. At 9, she was the youngest violinist ever to record. Jascha Heifetz, another famous child prodigy violin player, recorded at age 11. Her teacher in an interview claimed that no one had ever seen "anything like her".
Yehudi Menuhin has called her "the most wonderful, the most perfect, the most ideal violinist I have ever heard".
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Awards
Awards Sarah Chang has received include:
Avery Fisher Career Grant (1992)
Gramophone Magazine "Young Artist of the Year" (1993)
"Newcomer of the Year" at the International Classical Music Awards (1994)
Avery Fisher Prize (1999) One of three women to first win the prestigious music award