This Precocious Minor Knows All the Major Violin Concertos

In many ways, Sarah Chang is a typical 11-year-old. She plays Nintendo with her brother, swims, goes in-line skating (to the horror of her parents), watches TV and shops “a lot” with her friends.

She’s also a virtuoso violinist. On Tuesday, she’ll appear at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, playing Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto in D major.

Chang, who began playing the instrument--a 1/16th size--at age 4, made her orchestra debut a year later, and the year after that enrolled at the pre-college division of Juilliard, where she studies with master teacher Dorothy DeLay.

Of her repertoire, “I know all the major concertos,” she says without a trace of grandeur. “I don’t know how many there are; I’ve never counted.” Chang, who’s numbered appearances on “48 Hours,” “Today” and the PBS special “Child Prodigies,” says she’s excited about the upcoming release of her album “Sarah Chang Debuts.” In October, she’ll travel to England to begin her next recording with the London Symphony.

“My parents never pushed me into playing,” stresses the Philadelphia native, the daughter of a violin-teacher father and composer mother. “It’s fun for me. And I never get stage fright--I guess I’m not the nervous type.” Chang, who made her New York Philharmonic debut at age 8 after wowing conductor Zubin Mehta, spends summers at the Aspen Music Festival, and during the year, juggles studies at the Germantown Friends School with an active touring schedule.

“When I’m traveling, my teacher gives me lots of homework,” she says cheerfully. “Then I fax it to her from my hotel, and she faxes it back with corrections.” She swears to be unfazed by the celebrities she’s encountered, and she keeps her options open for an adult career.

“I’m taking it a day at a time,” she says. “But probably when I grow up, I’ll be a violinist.”