Two Pianists One Dream

Two rising talents of the international piano scene bring the music of Chopin to life in a program that highlights both virtuosity and poetic expression.

Two Pianists One Dream takes place Thursday, September 18 at the Coral Gables Museum, featuring Shuguang Gong of China and Viet Trung Nguyen of Vietnam. Both artists are current doctoral students at the Frost School of Music and fellows of the Frost Chopin Academy. Just days before competing at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where only 84 pianists worldwide have been selected, they will present an evening of masterworks by Chopin.

Program

• Etude in A minor, Op. 25 No. 11
• Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1
• Waltz in A flat major, Op. 42
• Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47
• Mazurkas, Op. 56
  • No. 1 in B major
  • No. 2 in C major
  • No. 3 in C minor
• Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
• Waltz in B minor, Op. 69 No. 2
• Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20
• Ballade in F major, Op. 38
• Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35

Shuguang Gong has performed across China, the United States, and Europe in venues such as the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing and Neidorff-Karpati Hall in New York. His performance of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie in 2024 was praised for its expressive depth. A first-prize winner of the Xinghai Cup and the Chinese Junior Golden Bell Piano Competition, he is a 2025 Bowdoin International Music Festival fellow and currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Frost School of Music.

Viet Trung Nguyen, born in Hanoi in 1996, is recognized as one of Vietnam’s leading pianists. A laureate of the Polish National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and the International Chamber Music Competition in Vietnam, he has performed at venues including Salle Cortot in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Grand Hall. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Polish Radio Orchestra. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Miami.