Violinist Sarah Chang, who will celebrate the 35th anniversary of her debut next month, is marking the occasion with a long winter recital in South Korea.

She kicks off the 13-city tour on the day of her 43rd birthday, Tuesday, in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, wrapping it up on Dec. 29 in Seoul.

Bringing back her winter performances in South Korea after five years, Chang said she is delighted to once again enjoy the year-end festivities with Korean audiences.

“For this tour, I’ll be visiting cities that I’ve never been to. I’m really excited to spend time together (with a Korean audience),” Chang told reporters during a press conference on Monday in Seoul.

Asked at the press conference whether she’s worried about Korean audiences who are in the midst of great political turmoil, Chang said, “Regardless of what’s happening in the world, as a musician, I enjoy performing on stage. Once I stand on stage, everything gets simple and pure.”

Julio Elizalde, an American pianist, arts administrator, educator and curator with whom Chang boasts more than 10 years of partnership, will accompany Chang on the stage with a program that will showcase their rare partnership.

“A lot of soloists like to play music that really features violin and less piano and so rare is a partnership where someone like Sarah, who (performs) everywhere in the world, will trust me to do a real equal program where the violin and piano are really together and one music,” Elizalde said.

“I think it's so difficult when you play for so many years and play the same music to continually search for new truth and beauty in the music that we play and that she's still open to explore everything,” he said.

Elizalde recollected his first memory of listening to Chang’s performance. As a student, he saw Chang’s performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, of which he said, “I still think it's the best performance of Concerto I've ever seen.”

The tour program centers on works by Brahms, Chang’s all-time favorite composer, and Prokofiev. She will perform Brahms’s early piece, Scherzo in C Minor; Brahms’s final violin sonata, Violin Sonata No. 3; and Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 2.

"Brahms is a romantic composer. Bach and Mozart are also romantic but there aren’t many composers like Brahms who allow the freedom to pour one’s heart out," she said.

For this tour, she will perform with a 1717 Guarneri, passed down to her by her mentor Isaac Stern when she was 14, while deploying four bows.

“I also have small hands, and my teacher, Isaac Stern, who had small hands as well, chose an instrument that suits me perfectly," Chang noted.

Chang, who debuted with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of conductor Zubin Mehta in 1990, shared that she has recently been focusing on performances that hold deeper meaning for her. This shift in perspective, she revealed, came as a revelation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was the first time I got to spend my mom's birthday, my birthday, and Korean holidays like Seollal and Chuseok together with family," she said. "I had always been rushing forward, but now I'm working on finding a better balance."

The Seoul recital will take place on Dec. 29 at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. Tickets are priced between 60,000 won ($42) and 160,000 won.