Isaac Chua Piano Concert For Education Programs

2026 Tickets Must be purchased on the Churchill Website

www.churchillbaker.com

"Prodigiously talented — with technique to burn." — Lani Spahr

Jim-Isaac Chua is a Filipino-American pianist whose performances have been praised by Radio Szczecin as "an incredible feast for the ears" and whose Chopin interpretations have been described as "musically, metaphysically and spiritually exceptional" — leaving "no doubt that in their spontaneity and finesse, he is spiritually a Pole" (Gazeta Szamotulska). Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009, he has performed across more than a dozen countries throughout Europe, Asia, and North America — appearing in concert halls in China, Japan, Austria, France, Poland, and throughout the United States and Canada. In 2026, Oregon Art Beat — OPB's Emmy Award-winning series broadcast on PBS — dedicated a full episode to his work, highlighting both his international concert career and his educational outreach across the Pacific Northwest. His performances consistently include spoken introductions that bring audiences into direct and personal contact with the music.

Chua maintains an active international performance schedule encompassing solo recitals, masterclasses, and collaborations across four continents. In the United States, his appearances include the Kosciuszko Foundation, The Orpheum Theatre, Bing Crosby Theater with an extensive touring presence across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In Poland — where he has been based for several years — he has performed in Kraków, Warsaw, Katowice, Szczecin, and Rzeszów, at venues including Villa Lentza, Krzysztofory Palace, Pszczyna Castle, and Rybna Palace. His international collaborations span leading academic institutions across four continents, including the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and Wenzhou University in China; the University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, and Liceo de Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines; Sekolah Pelita Harapan in Indonesia; and Washington State University and the College of Southern Idaho in the United States.His 2025 recital at Shibuya Hall in Tokyo was attended personally by Philippine Ambassador Mylene J. Garcia-Albano and Deputy Chief of Mission Christian L. De Jesus; his Vienna appearances include performances at the Wiener-Krakauer Kultur-Gesellschaft and the Gesellschaft für Musiktheater.

A committed advocate for the role of classical music in public life, Chua has raised over $250,000 for charitable causes in the United States through benefit concerts in partnership with organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Grace Clinic, Beebe Healthcare, and The Arc of the United States. His educational outreach reaches schools, universities, and community organizations across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Chua began his musical studies with Hania Kyrcz-Dec. He continued his training at the Eastman School of Music with Nelita True, at the Vancouver Academy of Music with Lee Kum Sing — where he graduated with highest distinction — and at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice with Maria Szwajger-Kułakowska and Zbigniew Raubo. He continues to receive artistic consultations from Professor Szwajger-Kułakowska, and his longstanding interest in historical performance practice has led him to pursue harpsichord studies with Marcin Świątkiewicz.

Isaac’s concert will raise support for our Education Programs at Crossroads including ArtSpeak. 

We thank Heather Jorgenson-Stone for facilitating Isaac’s concert in Baker City.  We thank the Stone Family who are providing housing for Isaac’s stay.  His powerful story as a first-generation American immigrant whose parents have no music background and the teachers that inspired his career.  He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in New York, Vancouver Academy of Music, and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music. 

To Purchase Tickets go to:  www.churchillbaker.com

About the 2026 Concert

International award-winning pianist Jim-Isaac Chua presents an evening showcasing the influences composers carried across time, tracing how musical ideas passed from one generation to the next. The program features masterpieces by Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Debussy, and more — including the virtuosic Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and beloved favorites like Clair de Lune — paired with Chua's own personal and engaging introductions to each piece.

Collborations Across Time 

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
    Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (arr. Myra Hess)

Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757)
    Sonata in G major, K. 455

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787)
    Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice (trans. Giovanni Sgambati)

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
    Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12, “Revolutionary”
    Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31
    Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
    Clair de lune
    L’Isle joyeuse

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
    Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2
    Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
    Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S. 244