Alexander “Zander” Chang is a Junior at Monticello High School (MHS) in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is an active member of the MHS Orchestra and founder of the MHS Chamber Music Club. Zander started playing piano under the tutelage of his mother, Nicole Yang, when he was four years old. When he turned five, he began violin lessons with Ms. Susan Black and has been a member of The Youth Orchestra of Central Virginia (YOCVA) since that time. He has been honored to be selected as First Chair in YOCVA each year since 2021, and he won the YOCVA concerto competition (playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto) in 2022. Zander has also won numerous awards with the National Guild of Piano Teachers (NGPT), including his Social Music Diploma in 2023 and the prestigious Paderewski Medal in 2024. In 2018 and 2019 he won first place in the IMC Music Competition in the Young Musician Category for piano and the following year for violin. As a first place winner, he was invited to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City. During 2023, Zander auditioned for the 2024 Residential Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts program, and during the summer of 2024, he attended the month-long program (located at Radford University) as an accepted participant for piano performance. Besides performing for concerts and competitions, Zander enjoys playing music and performing music therapy for patients at the Sentara Martha Jefferson hospital. He also plays with the C’Ville String Quartet organized by Marco Escobar that plays for weddings at several vineyards such as Keswick Vineyard and Veritas Vineyard.
You can find Alexander’s 2024 Romantic Music Competition piano performance here.