"Extraordinary playing...you could sense the entire audience caught between gasping and holding back tears. It was that powerful."
- Lake Champlain Islander, USA
"The Cheng² Duo digs deep under the virtuoso fireworks to find the inner life of each work in their varied repertoire. While they certainly display impeccable technique, there's much more to good music than that and this pair of artists have a great gift for coaxing the music off the page and into vivid life."
- Large Stage Live!, CANADA
Captivating audiences and critics alike, the Cheng² Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo) distinguishes itself with its uncompromising musical integrity, undeniable chemistry, and unparalleled communication with its listeners. The brother-and-sister duo is formed by 24-year-old cellist Bryan Cheng, Second and Audience Prize winner of the 2021 Geneva International Music Competition, and pianist Silvie Cheng, recipient of the Roy M. Rubinstein Award for exceptional promise in piano performance.
Named one of CBC Music’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30”, the young and dynamic Cheng² Duo has been making music together for the past 16 years. Their refreshing approach to showcasing classical music to new audiences of all backgrounds is steeped in a rare balance of infectious joy and enthusiasm in their playing on one hand, and mature, historically-informed, and profound interpretations on the other. With wide-ranging repertoire from baroque to contemporary, from original arrangements inspired by folk music to new commissioned works, the duo has presented engaging recitals in notable concert halls throughout North America (Canada and USA), Europe (Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Italy), and Asia (China and South Korea). Now touring extensively, they have established a reputation for being invited for return engagements at prestigious venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall (NY), the National Gallery of Canada, the Festival of the Sound (ON), Vermont’s Pro-Concert Series, and Ottawa Chamberfest. The duo has also been featured at numerous other international festivals, including Aspen (Colorado, US), Trasimeno (Italy), Usedomer (Germany) and CAMMAC (Quebec), as well as broadcasts on CBC Radio, ICI Musique, Radio-Canada International, Winnipeg Classic 107, Vermont Public Radio, WCRB Classical Music Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Kulturradio RBB Berlin, Südwestrundfunk (SWR2), NDR Kultur Germany, and hd2-kultur Frankfurt.
In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan and Silvie are equally committed to presenting both traditional masterworks and the music of their time. Since 2013, they have commissioned nearly a dozen new works, as well as curated cross-disciplinary concert experiences that meld classical and contemporary music with jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. World-class collaborative partners have included photographer and cinematographer Edward Burtynsky, Mercury Films, and multimedia studio Normal.
Recent and upcoming concert highlights include debut recitals at Chamber Music at the Clark (Los Angeles), Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), National Arts Club (NYC), Harvard University, Virtuosi Series (Winnipeg), Cecilia Concerts (Halifax), Indian River Festival (PEI), Toronto Summer Music Festival, Germany’s Usedomer Musikfestival and TONALi Kiezfestival, and extensive tours throughout Canada and China. Cheng² Duo has released a trilogy of critically-acclaimed albums on the German label audite: Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018) and Violoncelle français (2016), which was selected as one of WCRB Classical Radio Boston’s top CDs of 2017. This recording series has been lauded by international press and publications in France, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, and USA for their “musical sensitivity”, “maturity and perfection”, “extremely imaginative and personal interpretation”, “taste, sure flair for phrasing, and beauty of sound”.