The Swan

This recording takes a new look at some of the most enduring smaller-scale works in the cello’s literature. Among those chosen and performed by Han-Na Chang, several are heard in their original forms. Elsewhere, however, new orchestral arrangements by Chris Hazell and Roxanna Panufnik cast fresh perspectives on the music, often adding special intimacy and depth through minimal intervention, whilst preserving the legitimacy of the original pieces as fully as possible.

“There are so many beautiful miniatures for the cello. The choice of pieces on this album was my own and I’m very much attracted to each of them in one way or another. I always used to think, and still do, that these short works are poems written in musical language.” Han-na Chang

Born in South Korea in 1982, Han-Na Chang began studying piano at age 3, and cello at age 6. In 1993, her family moved to the United States, where she was enrolled in the pre-college division of the Juilliard School. In 1993, she attended Mischa Maisky’s masterclasses in Italy. In 1994 at the age of 11, she competed in the 5th Rostropovich International Cello Competition, and was awarded the First Prize as well as the Contemporary Music Prize. Chang studied with both Mischa Maisky and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Her cello recordings, exclusively done for EMI Classics (now Warner Classics), have been nominated for the Grammys, awarded two ECHO Klassik awards, the Caecilia and Cannes Classical awards, as well as a Gramophone Concerto of the Year accolade among others.

Chang subsequently developed an interest in conducting. She made her professional conducting debut in Korea in 2007, and her UK conducting debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2012. She has since then focused her artistic output exclusively to conducting. Han-Na Chang became principal guest conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra as of the 2013–2014 season. In 2017 she was the first female conductor to be named Chief Conductor of the orchestra.