Lang Lang
“His enormous variety of colour and texture, of dynamic range and rhetorical gesture, is dazzling. He can sing and sustain a line, knows when to subordinate accompanying figures, and achieves a huge range of articulation.”BBC Music Magazine, London, November 2008
Lang Lang plays sold-out, highly acclaimed concerts in all the world’s major music venues. He is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Philharmoniker and all “Big Five” American orchestras. His talent and personality make him an ideal ambassador for classical music and a role model for young people, and he is the first classical artist ever to perform an exclusive concert in the digital world of Second Life.
1982 Born in Shenyang, China, Lang Lang begins his piano studies at the age of three with Professor Zhu Ya-Fen from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music1987 Wins the Shenyang Piano Competition and gives his first public recital. In the coming years he takes first prize in the Fifth Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition in Beijing, first prize and “outstanding artistic performance” in the Fourth Interna¬tional Young Pianists Competition in Germany and first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition held in 1995 in Japan1991 Studies with Professor Zhao Ping-Guo at the Central Music Conservatory in Beijing1995 Plays the complete Chopin Études in the Beijing Concert Hall1996 Performs as one of the soloists at the inaugural concert of the China National Symphony, which President Jiang Ze-Min attends as guest of honour1997 Studies with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (until 2002)1999 Decisive career breakthrough with his dramatic last-minute substitution for André Watts at the Ravinia Festival, playing the First Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra2001 Sold-out Carnegie Hall debut to great critical acclaim playing the Grieg Concerto. Travels to Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Wolfgang Sawallisch for a tour celebrating the orchestra’s 100th anniversary. Sensa¬tional BBC Proms debut playing Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto2001/2002 Recital debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center and the Louvre in Paris. Debuts with the New York and London Philharmonic, both with Christoph Eschenbach, under whose baton he also tours Europe. Performs with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit in televised concerts2002 First recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival; featured in a week-long residency with five concerts at the Ravinia Festival2003 First release for Deutsche Grammophon: the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn First Concertos, with Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Echo Award 2004). Festival appearances include the opening concert of the BBC Proms, as well as Mostly Mozart (debut), Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Verbier and Schleswig-Holstein. Triumphant Carnegie Hall recital debut, recorded live and released in 20042004 Concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Staats¬kapelle, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and Berliner Philharmoniker. Becomes UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Recital debut at the Berlin Philharmonie and US recital tour. Echo Award as “Instrumentalist of the Year”; his Carnegie Hall Recital album enters the German pop charts and is awarded an Austrian Amadeus Music Award in 20052005 Appears in Beijing and on an extensive North American tour with the China Philhar¬monic, as well as with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw and Wiener Philharmoniker. Takes part in the second “Concert for Europe” with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Mehta, broadcast around the world. First Latin American tour. Release of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody with Gergiev2006 Appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orches¬tra, Israel Philhar¬monic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle and Berliner Phil¬harmoniker. Concerts at the Verbier, La Roque d’Anthéron and Salzburg festivals and the London Proms. Performs at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Munich’s Olympia Stadium. Steinway & Sons creates the “Lang Lang Stein¬way”. His album Memory climbs to no. 1 of Billboard’s classical charts. Dragon Songs, a full-length docu¬mentary, is filmed during his China concert tour and released on DVD; the music is available on CD. Two soundtracks are released on CD: The Banquet, with music by Tan Dun, and The Painted Veil, with music by Alexandre Desplat (Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award 2006; Golden Globe 2007)2007 Special highlights in¬clude concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Easter Festival, with the Wiener Philharmoniker in Carnegie Hall and open-air concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Germany. In autumn, he plays ten different piano concertos to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Inter¬national Festival and the 20th anniversary of his concert debut. World-premiere of a new composition by Nigel Hess about the life of the Queen Mother in the presence of HRH Prince Charles and a performance at the Classical Brit Awards ceremony in London’s Royal Albert Hall. Release of his first Beethoven recording, the Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 4 with the Orchestre de Paris under Eschenbach2008 In February Lang Lang and legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock appear together at the internationally televised Grammy® Awards. World-premiere performance in April of a new piano concerto by Tan Dun with the New York Philharmonic. In August, over 5 billion people view Lang Lang’s performance in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Other summer highlights include a China tour with the Philadelphia Orchestra (Eschenbach), concerts at the Salzburg and Ruhr Piano festivals, with the New York Philharmonic in Central Park and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and a recital at the BBC Proms. Lang Lang’s autobiography “Journey of a Thousand Miles” is published in summer. Lang Lang International Music Foundation launched in New York in October. Autumn audio release: Chopin’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2 with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Mehta2009 Starting with the 2008/09 season Lang Lang will hold outreach residencies in leading musical centres of the US, Canada and Europe, comprising masterclasses, chamber concerts, school visits and live chats with university students, orchestral concerts, performances featuring traditional Chinese musicians and music, 4-hand repertoire with children, and vocal and piano duo recitals. Other appearances this year include a European tour with the Gewandhaus Orchestra (Chailly), a world tour with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Mehta); and a European tour with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Harding); performances of the Vaughan Williams Double Concerto and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Herbie Hancock throughout Europe and North America; concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra and a tour with the Dresden Staatskapelle; recitals in Japan, Europe and the US, as well as Mumbai and Abu Dhabi. His new recording with Piano Trios by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov is due for release in the autumn2/2009
Lang Lang plays sold-out, highly acclaimed concerts in all the world’s major music venues. He is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Philharmoniker and all “Big Five” American orchestras. His talent and personality make him an ideal ambassador for classical music and a role model for young people, and he is the first classical artist ever to perform an exclusive concert in the digital world of Second Life.
1982 Born in Shenyang, China, Lang Lang begins his piano studies at the age of three with Professor Zhu Ya-Fen from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music1987 Wins the Shenyang Piano Competition and gives his first public recital. In the coming years he takes first prize in the Fifth Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition in Beijing, first prize and “outstanding artistic performance” in the Fourth Interna¬tional Young Pianists Competition in Germany and first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition held in 1995 in Japan1991 Studies with Professor Zhao Ping-Guo at the Central Music Conservatory in Beijing1995 Plays the complete Chopin Études in the Beijing Concert Hall1996 Performs as one of the soloists at the inaugural concert of the China National Symphony, which President Jiang Ze-Min attends as guest of honour1997 Studies with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (until 2002)1999 Decisive career breakthrough with his dramatic last-minute substitution for André Watts at the Ravinia Festival, playing the First Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra2001 Sold-out Carnegie Hall debut to great critical acclaim playing the Grieg Concerto. Travels to Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Wolfgang Sawallisch for a tour celebrating the orchestra’s 100th anniversary. Sensa¬tional BBC Proms debut playing Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto2001/2002 Recital debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center and the Louvre in Paris. Debuts with the New York and London Philharmonic, both with Christoph Eschenbach, under whose baton he also tours Europe. Performs with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit in televised concerts2002 First recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival; featured in a week-long residency with five concerts at the Ravinia Festival2003 First release for Deutsche Grammophon: the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn First Concertos, with Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Echo Award 2004). Festival appearances include the opening concert of the BBC Proms, as well as Mostly Mozart (debut), Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Verbier and Schleswig-Holstein. Triumphant Carnegie Hall recital debut, recorded live and released in 20042004 Concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Staats¬kapelle, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and Berliner Philharmoniker. Becomes UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Recital debut at the Berlin Philharmonie and US recital tour. Echo Award as “Instrumentalist of the Year”; his Carnegie Hall Recital album enters the German pop charts and is awarded an Austrian Amadeus Music Award in 20052005 Appears in Beijing and on an extensive North American tour with the China Philhar¬monic, as well as with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw and Wiener Philharmoniker. Takes part in the second “Concert for Europe” with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Mehta, broadcast around the world. First Latin American tour. Release of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody with Gergiev2006 Appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orches¬tra, Israel Philhar¬monic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle and Berliner Phil¬harmoniker. Concerts at the Verbier, La Roque d’Anthéron and Salzburg festivals and the London Proms. Performs at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Munich’s Olympia Stadium. Steinway & Sons creates the “Lang Lang Stein¬way”. His album Memory climbs to no. 1 of Billboard’s classical charts. Dragon Songs, a full-length docu¬mentary, is filmed during his China concert tour and released on DVD; the music is available on CD. Two soundtracks are released on CD: The Banquet, with music by Tan Dun, and The Painted Veil, with music by Alexandre Desplat (Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award 2006; Golden Globe 2007)2007 Special highlights in¬clude concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Easter Festival, with the Wiener Philharmoniker in Carnegie Hall and open-air concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Germany. In autumn, he plays ten different piano concertos to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Inter¬national Festival and the 20th anniversary of his concert debut. World-premiere of a new composition by Nigel Hess about the life of the Queen Mother in the presence of HRH Prince Charles and a performance at the Classical Brit Awards ceremony in London’s Royal Albert Hall. Release of his first Beethoven recording, the Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 4 with the Orchestre de Paris under Eschenbach2008 In February Lang Lang and legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock appear together at the internationally televised Grammy® Awards. World-premiere performance in April of a new piano concerto by Tan Dun with the New York Philharmonic. In August, over 5 billion people view Lang Lang’s performance in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Other summer highlights include a China tour with the Philadelphia Orchestra (Eschenbach), concerts at the Salzburg and Ruhr Piano festivals, with the New York Philharmonic in Central Park and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and a recital at the BBC Proms. Lang Lang’s autobiography “Journey of a Thousand Miles” is published in summer. Lang Lang International Music Foundation launched in New York in October. Autumn audio release: Chopin’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2 with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Mehta2009 Starting with the 2008/09 season Lang Lang will hold outreach residencies in leading musical centres of the US, Canada and Europe, comprising masterclasses, chamber concerts, school visits and live chats with university students, orchestral concerts, performances featuring traditional Chinese musicians and music, 4-hand repertoire with children, and vocal and piano duo recitals. Other appearances this year include a European tour with the Gewandhaus Orchestra (Chailly), a world tour with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Mehta); and a European tour with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Harding); performances of the Vaughan Williams Double Concerto and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Herbie Hancock throughout Europe and North America; concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra and a tour with the Dresden Staatskapelle; recitals in Japan, Europe and the US, as well as Mumbai and Abu Dhabi. His new recording with Piano Trios by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov is due for release in the autumn2/2009
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