There are two things that every concert promoter dreads. The first is the illness of the musician, and the other, severe weather. When we were stuck by both shortly before our first recital of 2025, I worried and panicked. However, there was no need! Our loyal audience still created a full-house crowd, and Junyan Chen, who stepped in without fuss and only a day’s notice, rose to the occasion and, in fact, surpassed everyone’s expectations. It was a delightful evening. Panic over!

Junyan is a natural giver; she showered the audience with music unconditionally, pouring emotions into the recital. It was joyful to watch her as well - her animated performance and unstoppable eagerness to share the music was received warmly by all of us.

Junyan managed to produce sublime tones which never stopped impressing us. With Bach’s French Suite, she articulated and shaped the sounds with a feathery touch, yet producing such crisp individual notes. Her tones became warm, deep and embracing with Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 101, creating effective sonority to express its lyricism and delicate tenderness.

I think the audience was particularly happy that Junyan chose Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor, a towering achievement of the Romantic era. This work has never been performed at Breinton; how auspicious to start the year with such a grand work. Junyan weaved the demonic darknesses and heavenly lyrical passages flowing seamlessly into one another. Its technical demands are extraordinary, and the powerful passages could have been too overwhelming to listeners (particularly in our intimate environment), but not in her care - she never relied on the full force and knew when to release and let it breathe. The dense chordal textures were played with precision and expressive depth in a way that felt divine at times. The melodious motifs were played with the utmost care and articulation, resulting in a truly dreamy state.

A mind-blowing piece by Fazil Say Black Earth was Junyan’s choice for an encore – a whole new experience to feel the mysterious sounds produced by her touching directly the piano strings and hammers. What a moving, dramatic piece. It left us a longing sensation.

Junyan Chen stepped in to perform this recital in place of Alim Beisembayev, who was unable to attend due to illness.