Karisa Chiu & Zhu Wang - Home (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

25-year-old rising American violinist Karisa Chiu, noted for her “easy virtuosity … humor, nuance… [and] playful[ness]” (Cleveland Classical), and renowned Chinese pianist Zhu Wang (“a thoughtful, sensitive performer” —New York Times) unite for Chiu’s debut album, HOME. Influenced by her Chicago upbringing, pandemic discoveries, and Korean and Chinese family roots, the recording reflects on the various interpretations of “home” in Chiu’s life, with works by Jean Sibelius, Claude Debussy, Augusta Read Thomas, Cyril Scott, and Gabriel Fauré.

A finalist in Cedille Records’ inaugural Emerging Artist Competition in 2021, Chiu earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and her Master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. She is the first new solo violinist to record for Cedille in over 20 years.

Although raised in a Swedish-speaking family, Jean Sibelius chose to root his artistic identity in Finnish culture. Written between 1915 and 1918, his Five Pieces blend Finnish folk influences with the elegance of salon music, reflecting a personal and creative claim of Finland as home.

Composed in wartime exile and performed at his final public appearance, Debussy’s Violin Sonata (1916–1917) is both a farewell and a return. Intended as part of a larger French sonata cycle, the work reaches toward distant tonalities and Iberian influences, yet remains anchored in a deeply personal language — a reflection on home as something both fragile and enduring.

A lyrical, chant-inspired solo for violin, Thomas’ Incantation unfolds with patience and quiet intensity. Chiu first encountered the work years before recording it, eventually collaborating with Thomas during her time as composer-in-residence at Curtis. With Thomas’s deep ties to Chicago, the piece became a personal emblem of home — bridging Chiu’s roots in the Windy City and a new sense of belonging at Curtis.

In Kreisler’s arrangement of Cyril Scott’s dreamy Lotus Land, Chiu’s violin floats above Zhu Wang’s shimmering textures, rich with whole-tone and pentatonic color. Inspired by Tennyson’s “The Lotos-Eaters,” the piece offers a brief, sensual escape, where lyricism and stillness evoke a world apart. Discovered by Chiu during the pandemic — a strange yet meaningful chapter in her life — the work recalls a fleeting but formative anchor amid uncertainty.

Fauré’s Violin Sonata No. 1 balances classical structure with sweeping emotion and introspective calm — a work of youthful maturity. Chiu performed it during a return trip to Korea with her mother, reconnecting with family and cultural roots. The sonata evokes not only Fauré’s early voice but also a powerful emotional link to memory and belonging.

Tracklist:
01. Sibbelius- Five Pieces, Op. 81- I. Mazurka
02. Sibbelius- Five Pieces, Op. 81- II. Rondino
03. Sibbelius- Five Pieces, Op. 81- III. Valse
04. Sibbelius- Five Pieces, Op. 81- IV. Aubade
05. Sibbelius- Five Pieces, Op. 81- V. Menuetto
06. Debussy- Violin Sonata- I. Allegro vivo
07. Debussy- Violin Sonata- II. Intermède- Fantasque et léger
08. Debussy- Violin Sonata- III. Finale- Très animé
09. Thomas- Incantation for Solo Violin
10. Scott- Lotus Land
11. Fauré- Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13- I. Allegro molto
12. Fauré- Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13- II. Andante
13. Fauré- Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13- III. Scherzo- Allegro vivo
14. Fauré- Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13- IV. Finale- Allegro quasi presto


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