The first ever saxophone soloist to perform with the Vienna Philharmonic, the 2022-23 season will see Valentine debut with the orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Lucerne Festival, where she will perform the world premiere of the saxophone and orchestra version of Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales. This season will also see Valentine debut at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Philharmonie Zuidnederlands with conductor Duncan Ward (recording of the Peacock Tales for Outhere Music), the Folle Journée de Nantes as well as with the Orchestra Wellington performing John Psathas’ saxophone concerto Zahara.
Recent highlights include debuts with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko performing the Glaznuov saxophone concerto, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande with conductor Maxim Pascal performing John Adams Saxophone Concerto, as well as Valentine’s debut in the Lucerne Symphony’s recital series.
Valentine has appeared as a soloist, recitalist and in chamber music groups on many of the world’s leading stages, including KKL Luzern, London’s Wigmore Hall, Grand Philharmonic Hall St Petersburg, Wiener Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Geneva’s Victoria Hall and the Great Guild Hall in Riga, amongst others.
Convinced of the richness of collaborations with other artistic forms and seeking to develop new concert formats, Valentine Michaud co-founded the SIBJA collective with his brother Emmanuel Michaud, visual artist and performer. Together, they created the trilogy of performances WAITING FOR AMON, awarded in 2018 by the Nico Kaufmann Foundation Award, which brings together dancers, musicians and visual artists. In 2020, the collective directed the film «BOTH-Le Dialogue de l’Ombre Double». They also collaborated on Ugo Bottachiari’s previously unpublished opera «L’Ombra» at Operatic in 2022, as a set designer and costume designer. Eager to contribute to the renewal of the repertoire for her instrument, she collaborates with composers of her generation, and with composers such as Alvin Lucier in the Ever Present Orchestra.
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Highly in demand as a collaborative pianist, Casey Dierlam Tse has done hundreds of recitals, projects, and recordings with instrumentalists throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. With over 600 chamber pieces in her repertoire, she regularly performs in concerts at international music festivals and conferences.
An avid performer of contemporary music, she is devoted to working with, recording, and promoting the music of rising young composers, including Kevin Day, Josh Trentadue, Viet Cuong, Joel Love, Karalyn Schubring et. al.
No stranger to the saxophone world and an ardent performer of its repertoire, Casey has worked with renowned international artists such as Arno Bornkamp (NL), Claude Delangle (FR), Asya Fateyeva (DE), Jean-Yves Fourmeau (FR), Pawel Gusnar (PL), Branford Marsalis (US), Gerard McChrystal (UK), Debra Richtmeyer (USA) Nikita Zimin (RU) and as duo partner with husband Kenneth Tse. Recent appearances include the World Saxophone Congress in Croatia, The Hong Kong Saxophone Symposium, the Asia Saxophone Congress in China, the Liceux Saxophone Festival in Barcelona, the Zurich Saxfest in Switzerland, the Lerici Music Festival in Italy, and the Szczecin Saxophone Festival in Poland, among others.
She serves as the collaborative piano coordinator for the North American Saxophone Alliance conference, and regularly appears at the United States Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, the Single Reed Summit, MTNA competitions, NASA conferences, and many other competitions in major cities across the United States. She has served as a pianist for the American Saxophone Academy and is currently hired as the official pianist for the Yamaha Young Performing Artist Award Weekend. Other notable collaborations include Charles Villarrubia, Sergio Carolino, Alexandra Nowakowski, Adam Frey, and David Shea, to name a few.
Since her orchestral debut at age 12, Casey has garnered many awards as a soloist in prestigious competitions, including the Rose Petroff College Piano Competition, the St. Louis Artist Presentation Society, The New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano competition. She has performed as a soloist at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna, Austria.
Her degrees in piano performance at Indiana State University (William Hughes) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Timothy Ehlen) were supplemented by her studies with pianist and pedagogue Zitta Zohar in New York City.