HONOLULU SYMPHONY Violinist Sarah Chang prefers being on the road.

Violinist Chang enjoys
carefree life on the road

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By Scott Vogel
svogel@starbulletin.com

The next time your budding young Mozart refuses to practice his violin -- or, for that matter, his piano, ukulele or zither -- try using this bit of encouragement: "Just think: If you get really good, when you're a big boy you'll never have to wash your own clothes."

Or at least not when you're on the road, which is where violin superstar Sarah Chang prefers to be these days, thank you very much.

"When there is a time period when I can actually be home for a week or 10 days, I get so restless," chirped Chang, now 19 (can you believe she's all grown up?) and a full-fledged delight in conversation. "I'm used to living out of a suitcase and in hotels. If I'm home it means I have to actually cook and do my own laundry. It's like, whoa -- real life."

Speaking by phone from the afore-derided home in Philadelphia, Chang is the first to laugh at her learned helplessness. To wit: "The other day I was trying to send this package to someone and realized that I actually had to get my little foot behind the wheel and actually drive to the post office. I couldn't just go downstairs and ask the concierge. So I'm kind of spoiled."

But the self-mockery seems fresh and unforced, a quality honed during her decade-long transition from spellbinding prodigy to Real Musician.

Just a year after she began studying the violin at age 4, Chang accompanied several orchestras in the Philadelphia area, and by the tender age of 8 she had auditioned for conductors Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti. Performances with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra swiftly followed, and then an improbable conquering of the world stage, Chang's precocious musicianship (and, it must be admitted, her pixieish adorability) leading to concert stints with just about every major orchestra on Earth. She's collaborated with the greatest conductors of our time, recorded all the major violin repertory and has a number of best-selling CDs to show for it.

She's accomplished and studious, driven and decidedly serious ...

Oh wait. No she's not.

"You thought that all classical musicians basically stay inside and wear black all the time, right? Well, I do wear a lot of black, but seriously ..."

And thus begins the real interview, the one where you hear how this icon of perfection cultivates a few harmless imperfections, terrorizing Honolulu Symphony conductor Samuel Wong in the process.

"What's so great about the (Honolulu) Symphony -- I mean, besides the musicians and the friendly atmosphere -- is that they have Sunday concerts and then Monday off, and then Tuesday evening concerts. Which means that on Monday we've got a free day and we just go wild, do stuff that we've never done before, and in the process we always hurt ourselves. Soloists are notorious for getting hurt on that free Monday."

Two years ago, on Chang's last free Monday in Honolulu, she decided to try surfing.

"Nobody had bothered to tell me how incredibly strenuous surfing could be. (They said) it'd be a breeze. I went for two or three hours, and when I walked back I could hardly lift my arms. So the next day for the concert I go backstage to the maestro (Wong) and tell him, 'You're not going to believe this, but I can't even tune the violin.' And I'm supposed to play the Brahms Violin Concerto in 20 minutes. He was ready to strangle me."

Her partner in crime for this trip is her brother Michael, 14, whose spring break happens to coincide with this weekend's Honolulu dates ("he's so totally in love with me right now"). He'll watch Sis perform Karl Goldmark's Violin Concerto, with all the daredevil demands it places on the soloist -- the scales, arpeggios, runs and octaves -- and its gorgeous second movement, entitled "Aria." The violinist hopes we'll pay special attention to the latter piece, which she calls "a hymn, so beautiful and peaceful."

But then on Monday, Michael will no doubt beg Sarah to go surfing. Knowing the maestro's views on the activity and the risks the sport poses for her hands, what can she say?

"Are you kidding? Absolutely!"

Honolulu Symphony Sarah Chang plays Goldmark's Violin Concerto in A minor with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Concert also includes Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 When: 4 p.m. Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall, 777 Ward Ave. Cost: $15 to $55 Call: 792-2000

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