❧ The Goldberg Variations ~ Pianist Irwin Shung
- Jan 29
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Sunday, August 9, 2026 at 2:00 pm
$30 per ticket - SOLD OUT!
The 50th and 51st concerts in the York Place Musical Salon.
❧ About the Concert
[Note: the concert originally planned for this date was cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. Irwin Shung has graciously stepped in on short notice as a substitute and offers this revised program. Ticket holders and those on the waiting list for the original concert have been offered tickets first.]
Legend says Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations in 1741 to help ease Count Kaisering's insomnia - a set of variations to soothe sleepless nights. The story may be more charming than true, but the music earns the myth. Built from a single, unhurried aria, the Goldberg Variations unfold into thirty transformations so varied and so disciplined that they amount to a complete world in miniature.
Pianist Irwin Shung brings this towering work to the Salon, along with a pre-concert talk offering a glimpse beneath the surface, illuminating the work's inner life... from the near-grotesque "Black Pearl" variation to the fantastical hand-crossing arabesques and the farcical Quodlibet.
Join us for a rare opportunity to hear this monumental work, performed by a masterful pianist.
❧ Get Tickets
Sorry, these concerts are sold out, and the waiting list is also full.
Read more... About Tickets and the Waiting List
Sign up for our mailing list and never miss a concert announcement.
We gratefully acknowledge a generous donation from an anonymous patron who has sponsored the York Place Musical Salon since 2024. This support helps further our goal of presenting performances of the highest caliber. Thank you.
❧ About Irwin Shung
-“…lets the notes ring, as if painting with the reverberation. Like a gradually cresting wave, the intensity peaks…”
–Cleveland Classical
Dr. Irwin Shung, whose playing has been praised by State Magazine for its “ease, technique, and musicianship,” has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He teaches keyboard ensembles at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in addition to serving as Artistic Director of The Resonance Project since its founding in Seattle. He maintains an active musical profile both on the American West Coast and in Northeast Ohio, where he was recently selected as Heights Arts’ Artist of the Month. As President of the Northeast Ohio Music Teachers Association, Shung oversaw the development of dynamic new programs for hundreds of precollegiate music students in the area.
Irwin received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2015, where he studied with Dr. Daniel Shapiro. Other teachers include Marian Hahn (Peabody Conservatory), Leon Fleisher (Peabody Conservatory), Herbert Stessin (Juilliard School), Gabriel Chodos (New England Conservatory), and Victoria Bogdashevskaya (Moscow Conservatory). Awards received include the Pauline Favin Memorial Award from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a win in the Darius Milhaud Competition.
Irwin recently premiered his work for solo piano, Seven Chinese Characters, alongside a live painting by the internationally renowned Li Qian. In October 2026, he will collaborate with the Cleveland Museum of Art in conjunction with its upcoming exhibition Ten Kings of Hell.