While 50 Cent is celebrating his first chance to win a Grammy, Han-Na Chang ’06 is packing her bags for a tour in Germany—and taking her second nomination for the prestigious award in stride.

Last Thursday, Chang learned that her fourth album “Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante,” had been nominated—seven years after her first album was considered for a Grammy.

Chang’s latest album has already won several European awards and a nomination for France’s Cannes Classical Awards under the Best Concerto Recording category.

Though she said she wasn’t surprised when her record company, EMI Classics, told her about the nomination, Chang said she was happy to hear the news.

“I really love this piece, and my collaborators and I are very happy with the results, so it is wonderful that the album is also moving and special to others,” Chang wrote in an e-mail.

But Chang’s fans aren’t limited to the Grammy nomination committee.

Alexander S. Misono ’04, violinist and music director of Harvard’s Bach Society Orchestra, described her as “the most brilliant, most talented and most accomplished musician in our age bracket in the entire world.”

Chang started playing piano at the age of three and switched to the cello three years later. At age 11, she won the top prize at the prestigious Rostropovich Competition and then skyrocketed to stardom.  

“I really liked it in the beginning because it was more like ‘playing’ as in playing with friends and toys. I think I gradually came to regard it as my ‘voice’—I would say I became really serious about it when I was 8 or 9,” Chang said.

Since then, she has played at some of the most coveted venues in the world with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo and the Orchestre de Paris.

Despite her high-profile music career, Chang is “quite down to earth,” Misono said, pointing to her willingness to play with College groups, as well.

“She is off touring the entire globe just about every weekend or every other weekend, but she is still a college kid when she has to be,” Misono said.

Chang has concert and recording commitments until 2007, and has already been away this semester on two short tours.

She will leave today for a tour in Germany, which will last until the end of January, when she returns to the campus to take exams.

Next semester, Chang will take a leave of absence to allow for additional tours, some of which will last up to two months.