Pianist GLORIA CHENG belongs to the category of instrumentalists who are true favourites of John Williams to the point of being even an inspiration for the composer. One of the most acclaimed musicians of his generation and an advocate of the contemporary repertoire and new music, she performed as pianist for John Williams in many film scores since the mid-2000s and has been spotlighted as soloist on such scores as MUNICH, Tintin and WAR HORSE. In addition to the film work, Gloria also had the unique honour of performing Williams' rare piano compositions for the concert hall: the 4-movement "Conversations" for solo piano, and the "Prelude and Scherzo" for piano and orchestra.
In this conversation, Gloria Cheng talks about her career as a classical performer and her path that led to perform as pianist for film scores; she recollectes her experiences playing for John Williams, the challenges of playing the solos on Munich, Tintin and her views on the Maestro's style when writing for piano, reflecting upon her experiences playing "Conversations" and "Prelude and Scherzo". She also recollects her award-winning project Montage: Great Film Composers and the Piano.
A fantastic artist. Not known well enough that she is both a first call musician for film scores but also pretty much THE new music person for classical in LA.
A fantastic artist. Not known well enough that she is both a first call musician for film scores but also pretty much THE new music person for classical in LA.
