Violinist Karisa Chiu To Release Debut Album In September
The album features pianist Zhu Wang and works by Debussy, Sibelius, Fauré, Augusta Read Thomas, and Cyril Scott.
Cedille Records will release HOME, the debut recording by acclaimed 25-year-old violinist Karisa Chiu, on September 12, 2025. Joined by celebrated pianist Zhu Wang, Chiu presents a deeply personal program exploring the meaning of “home” through music by Debussy, Fauré, Sibelius, Cyril Scott, and Augusta Read Thomas. A finalist in Cedille’s inaugural 2021 Emerging Artist Competition, Chiu is the first new violinist in over two decades to release a solo album with the label.
HOME features Debussy’s Violin Sonata, Sibelius’s Five Pieces for Violin and Piano, Fauré’s Violin Sonata No. 1, Scott’s Lotus Land (arr. Fritz Kreisler), and Thomas’s Incantation for Solo Violin. The recording is inspired by Chiu’s upbringing in Chicago, her Korean-Chinese heritage, and the emotional impact of the pandemic. “This album is not only a story of what home means to me, but an invitation for you to reflect on the things in your life that define home,” she writes in the album’s booklet.
Each work on HOME has a personal resonance for Chiu. Several were part of her childhood soundtrack, played often by her parents. Others reflect her emotional growth through studies at the Curtis Institute and visits to Korea, where she rediscovered cultural roots and shared the stage with her mother. Seen through her lens, these works transform stories of grief and hardship into narratives of remembrance and connection.
Karisa Chiu is a rising star in the classical world, earning first prize at the 2021 Isang Yun Violin Competition and receiving top honors at the Menuhin, Leopold Mozart, and Irving M. Klein Competitions. She will make her Carnegie Hall recital debut in spring 2026 as the recipient of the 2025 Gerschen Cohen Award.
Zhu Wang is a Gold Medalist of the 2024 New Orleans International Piano Competition and a 2020 winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. A Curtis and Juilliard graduate, he has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall, and others across Europe and North America.
HOME is the second album to emerge from Cedille’s Emerging Artist Competition, following Julian Velasco’s acclaimed As We Are. The label’s continued investment in new talent reflects its long-standing commitment to elevating Chicago’s vibrant classical music community.
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