Piano Performance by UCLA Students

Sponsored by the UCLA Emeriti Association and the UCLA Retirees Association

Good Morning everyone who registered for this program next week.

Please note that due to the ongoing horrible conditions with the L.A. fires and the heavy impact on our communities, we have chosen to postpone what promises to be a most enjoyable program. When the collective situation becomes more conducive, we shall announce the new date for this concert.

Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been forever changed by this unimaginable series of events. 

The Emeriti and Retirees Associations invite you to a free, delightful musical program featuring piano recitals by two extremely talented students in The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Performing will be:

• Grace Chen is a UCLA senior piano major studying under Inna Faliks, a renowned concert pianist and Professor and Head of the School’s Piano Department. Professor Faliks describes Grace as “a keenly intelligent young artist with true depth and honesty.” Grace is also a computer science major, an accomplished painter, and a recipient of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Falk Scholarship. Her other awards include first place Rubinyi Scholarship Competition in 2023, Northern Regional Winner of the 2021 MTAC Piano Concerto Competition and finalist in the 2020 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition. Grace started learning piano at age six over Skype with her grandmother, a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and piano professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 
• Terry Hsu, a UCLA senior studying under the guidance of Professor David Kaplan, is a native of Taiwan, who embarked on his musical journey independently at age 14. At UCLA, he is both a distinguished Gluck Fellow and a recipient of the Emil Danenberg and Beatrice Zelkin Scholarships. At last year’s Brevard Music Festival, his exceptional talent earned Terry a prize in the Brevard Piano Competition. Professor Kaplan holds UCLA’s Shapiro Chair in Piano Performance. Hsu has taken masterclasses with Professor Faliks, who praised his impressive skills.

Both Grace and Terry will perform piano concerts on the Faculty Club’s Steinway B piano, located in the Morrison Room, and each will have a short conversation with Stuart Wolpert, director of UCLA Conversations.

Professor Faliks is the author of the musical memoir, “Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage.” Her memoir details her exploration of Bach’s brilliant music as she grew up in Odessa and became a child prodigy, with the piano her best friend, and her steady rise as a world-renowned concert pianist.

The UCLA Emeriti Association and the UCLA Retirees Association (UCLARA) are both all-volunteer organizations that represent the interests of UCLA's retired faculty/staff and plan programs for their members. Support their advocacy efforts by joining or renewing your membership. Membership forms will be available at the program.