Yuja WangPianoTwenty-four year old Chinese
pianist Yuja Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity
and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature
artist. Regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, Yuja’s
command of the piano has been described as “astounding” and “superhuman,” and
she has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands
of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh
interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence. Following her San
Francisco recital debut The San Francisco Chronicle wrote “The arrival of
Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang on the musical scene is an exhilarating and
unnerving development. To listen to her in action is to re-examine whatever
assumptions you may have had about how well the piano can actually be played,”
and The Washington Post called Yuja’s Kennedy Center recital debut
“jaw-dropping.”
Yuja is an exclusive
recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut recording, Sonatas &
Etudes, released in the spring of 2009, “suggests a combination of blazing
technique and a rare instinct for poetry” wrote Gramophone magazine, which named
Yuja the Classic FM Gramophone Awards 2009 Young Artist of the Year. Her second
recording, Transformation, was released in spring of 2010 to great critical
acclaim, and was selected by Gramophone Magazine as the July 2010 Record of the
Month. Most recently, Yuja collaborated with Maestro Claudio Abbado and
the Mahler Chamber Orchestra to record her first concerto album featuring
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C
minor. This recording was released in spring 2011.
In the few short years since
her 2005 debut with the National Arts Center Orchestra led by Pinchas Zukerman,
for which the Canadian press reported “a star is born,” Yuja has already
performed with many of the world’s prestigious orchestras including the
Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit
Symphony, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, New
World Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Orchestra and the San
Francisco Symphony, in the U.S., and abroad with the Tonhalle Orchestra, China
Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Gulbenkian Orchestra, London
Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo and Orchestra
Mozart, among others. In 2006 Yuja made her New York Philharmonic debut at the
Bravo! Vail Music Festival and performed with the orchestra the following season
under Lorin Maazel during the Philharmonic’s Japan/Korea visit. In 2008
Yuja toured the United States with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields led
by Sir Neville Marriner and in 2009 she performed as a soloist with the You Tube
Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Tilson Thomas at Carnegie Hall. She also
toured the U.S. tour with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra led by Yu Long in
honor of the orchestra’s 130th anniversary, and performed with the Lucerne
Festival Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado in Beijing, the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain and in London, and the Hong Kong
Philharmonic.
Yuja has given recitals in
major cities throughout Asia, Europe and North America, is a dedicated performer
of chamber music, and makes regular appearances at summer festivals including
the Aspen and Verbier festivals. In March 2011 Yuja performed in a three-concert
chamber series at the Salle Pleyel in Paris with principal players from the
Berlin Philharmonic. She has also worked with many of the world’s esteemed
conductors including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Daniele
Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Pietari Inkinen, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Sir Roger
Norrington, Antonio Pappano, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson-Thomas and Pinchas
Zukerman.
As her career continues to
blossom, each season Yuja makes a number of important debuts, both with major
orchestras and in recital. In the 10-11 season she made her debut with the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra led by Gatti, Orchestre de Paris conducted by Juraj
Valčuha, RAI Torino led by Mikko Franck, and Orquesta Nacional España and Berlin
Staatskapelle, each conducted by Inkinen. Yuja also made recital debuts in
Madrid and Tokyo. In the 2011-12 season Yuja will perform with the Israel
Philharmonic, La Scala, London Symphony, NDR Symphony and Santa Cecilia in
Europe, and the U.S. orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, and Los
Angeles. She makes her Carnegie Hall (Stern Hall) in October 2011.
Born in Beijing in 1987,
Yuja began studying piano at age six, with her earliest public performances
taking place in China, Australia and Germany, and went on to study at the
Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing under Ling Yuan and Zhou Guangren.
Following three years, from 1999 to 2001, at the Morningside Music summer
program at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, an artistic and cultural exchange
program between Canada and China, Yuja moved to Canada and began studying with
Hung Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at the Mount Royal College Conservatory. In
2002, when Yuja was 15, she won Aspen Music Festival’s concerto competition and
moved to the U.S. to study with Gary Graffman at The Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia, where she graduated in 2008. In 2006 Yuja received the Gilmore
Young Artist Award. In 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher
Career Grant. Yuja is a Steinway Artist.
August 2011
http://www.yujawang.com Twenty-four year old Chinese
pianist Yuja Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity
and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature
artist. Regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, Yuja’s
command of the piano has been described as “astounding” and “superhuman,” and
she has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands
of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh
interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence. Following her San
Francisco recital debut The San Francisco Chronicle wrote “The arrival of
Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang on the musical scene is an exhilarating and
unnerving development. To listen to her in action is to re-examine whatever
assumptions you may have had about how well the piano can actually be played,”
and The Washington Post called Yuja’s Kennedy Center recital debut
“jaw-dropping.”
Yuja is an exclusive
recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut recording, Sonatas &
Etudes, released in the spring of 2009, “suggests a combination of blazing
technique and a rare instinct for poetry” wrote Gramophone magazine, which named
Yuja the Classic FM Gramophone Awards 2009 Young Artist of the Year. Her second
recording, Transformation, was released in spring of 2010 to great critical
acclaim, and was selected by Gramophone Magazine as the July 2010 Record of the
Month. Most recently, Yuja collaborated with Maestro Claudio Abbado and
the Mahler Chamber Orchestra to record her first concerto album featuring
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C
minor. This recording was released in spring 2011.
In the few short years since
her 2005 debut with the National Arts Center Orchestra led by Pinchas Zukerman,
for which the Canadian press reported “a star is born,” Yuja has already
performed with many of the world’s prestigious orchestras including the
Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit
Symphony, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, New
World Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Orchestra and the San
Francisco Symphony, in the U.S., and abroad with the Tonhalle Orchestra, China
Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Gulbenkian Orchestra, London
Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo and Orchestra
Mozart, among others. In 2006 Yuja made her New York Philharmonic debut at the
Bravo! Vail Music Festival and performed with the orchestra the following season
under Lorin Maazel during the Philharmonic’s Japan/Korea visit. In 2008
Yuja toured the United States with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields led
by Sir Neville Marriner and in 2009 she performed as a soloist with the You Tube
Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Tilson Thomas at Carnegie Hall. She also
toured the U.S. tour with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra led by Yu Long in
honor of the orchestra’s 130th anniversary, and performed with the Lucerne
Festival Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado in Beijing, the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain and in London, and the Hong Kong
Philharmonic.
Yuja has given recitals in
major cities throughout Asia, Europe and North America, is a dedicated performer
of chamber music, and makes regular appearances at summer festivals including
the Aspen and Verbier festivals. In March 2011 Yuja performed in a three-concert
chamber series at the Salle Pleyel in Paris with principal players from the
Berlin Philharmonic. She has also worked with many of the world’s esteemed
conductors including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Daniele
Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Pietari Inkinen, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Sir Roger
Norrington, Antonio Pappano, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson-Thomas and Pinchas
Zukerman.
As her career continues to
blossom, each season Yuja makes a number of important debuts, both with major
orchestras and in recital. In the 10-11 season she made her debut with the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra led by Gatti, Orchestre de Paris conducted by Juraj
Valčuha, RAI Torino led by Mikko Franck, and Orquesta Nacional España and Berlin
Staatskapelle, each conducted by Inkinen. Yuja also made recital debuts in
Madrid and Tokyo. In the 2011-12 season Yuja will perform with the Israel
Philharmonic, La Scala, London Symphony, NDR Symphony and Santa Cecilia in
Europe, and the U.S. orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, and Los
Angeles. She makes her Carnegie Hall (Stern Hall) in October 2011.
Born in Beijing in 1987,
Yuja began studying piano at age six, with her earliest public performances
taking place in China, Australia and Germany, and went on to study at the
Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing under Ling Yuan and Zhou Guangren.
Following three years, from 1999 to 2001, at the Morningside Music summer
program at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, an artistic and cultural exchange
program between Canada and China, Yuja moved to Canada and began studying with
Hung Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at the Mount Royal College Conservatory. In
2002, when Yuja was 15, she won Aspen Music Festival’s concerto competition and
moved to the U.S. to study with Gary Graffman at The Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia, where she graduated in 2008. In 2006 Yuja received the Gilmore
Young Artist Award. In 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher
Career Grant. Yuja is a Steinway Artist.
August 2011
http://www.yujawang.com | |