Broward Teen to Take Triple-Threat Musicianship to Europe – Knight Foundation

Broward Teen to Take Triple-Threat Musicianship to Europe

Gabrielle Chou, after her concert Sunday.

Gabrielle Chou will celebrate her 14th birthday in less than two weeks, but even at that very young age this violinist, pianist and composer has already made impressive strides in the world of classical music.

I heard the Pembroke Pines teenager (she enters West Broward High in the fall, having finished school at Silver Trail Middle) earlier this year in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and again this past Sunday in Boca Raton, where I heard her play a program of violin pieces including Sarasate’s Zapateado and the Wieniawski Second Concerto (in D minor, Op. 22), then turn around and close her recital at the keyboard with a fine performance of the Second Piano Concerto (in F minor, Op. 21) of Frederic Chopin. Gabrielle and her family were raising money for a trip in a few days to England, where she’ll compete in the Manchester International Piano Competition (Aug. 15-22) for young pianists, then head out before the close of that contest to Germany, where she’ll take part in the Kloster Schontal Violin Competition (Aug. 21-31), which also is for young players.

Sunday’s concert at the Steinway Gallery in Boca was impressive in the sheer breadth of her accomplishment. As a violinist, she was persuasive in the lovely Schubert Sonatina (in D, D. 384), and she possessed plenty of technical fire for the Sarasate and Wieniawski, as well as for a powerful Joseph Joachim transcription of his friend Brahms’ Second Hungarian Dance (also on her violin program: works by Telemann, Mozart — two movements of the K. 211 concerto — and Charles Dancla).

She seemed to me to be most involved in the poetry of the Schubert, and that same sense of commitment carried over into her performance of the Chopin concerto. This is quite a difficult work, not just technically, but in its range of mood, and Gabrielle handled all of it quite well (pianist Amy Lim was her reliable accompanist).

Gabrielle’s parents, Richard and Grace, are Taiwanese migrants, and Richard, a very nice man with whom I had several conversations Sunday, is a computer database consultant who has built a very useful Website for his daughter at www.kidmusician.com. The site, which is comprehensive and easy to navigate, has videos of her performances plus available sheet music downloads of her compositions.

Gabrielle Chou is already a formidable musician (and excellent student; her dad said “she’s good at everything,” including mathematics and drawing), and she is a modest and pleasant person, to boot. Musicians who can operate at a high level like this in two demanding solo repertoires are relatively rare, and those who have done so in the past tend to become composers and conductors.

There’s no real telling just yet what path Gabrielle will choose, but she’s already provided plenty of musical pleasure for audiences all over South Florida, and I think it’s safe to say her career will be well worth watching in years to come.