International piano celebrity Evelyn Chen took a break from playing concert halls in New York and Austria to wow Sacramento State on Saturday night.

Chen, an adjunct professor of piano at Colombia University, played in Capistrano Hall as part of the Sac State music department’s long-running piano series.

Along with teaching at a prestigious university, the virtuoso has played with the likes of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has filled concert halls such as the Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow.

Chen’s relative fame in the piano community was not lost on the many Sac State music students in attendance.

“As piano students, we enjoy having artists like this come and play for us,” said Monica Zarete, music major. “We really learn a lot.”

Indeed, Chen attracted a number of piano fans from around the area for whom the concert does not fulfill a requirement for their classes. Many were just in attendance to enjoy the beautiful music.

“I just really like piano,” said concertgoer Tim Misik. “There are not many events like this in the Sacramento area.”

Chen, who received her doctorate in musical arts from Juilliard, did not disappoint her audience.

From the beginning of the first piece, one could see the passion with which Chen approaches her art. At points where Enrique Grandados’s “Lament, or the Maiden and the Nightingale” reached a crescendo, Chen became very animated – her arms flying across the piano, slamming the keys in a way suggesting she felt the music, not just knew it.

And when Franz Schubert’s “Sonata in A Major” transformed from a blustering explosion to a faint trickle of sound, Chen could be seen staring at the ceiling, creating the feeling that music is just barely there, only to be brought back with a vengeance.

“I love it. It’s amazing,” said Edith Montemayor, a music major at Cosumnes River College. “All the emotion and dynamics – she just created the mood for it.”

From a technical standpoint, Zarate said that Chen was outstanding. She complimented her tone and expressiveness, both of which she said were incredible.

Sac State definitely won out when the university convinced Chen to take time out of her schedule to perform here. While Capistrano Hall may not be as storied a venue as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, students and others were treated to an exceptional taste of some of the greatest music ever written, performed by one of the best on the scene today.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected]