Superstar pianist Lang Lang heads for Brisbane
Hailed by millions of fans worldwide as the most flamboyant, original, fashionable and daring virtuoso on the planet, pianist Lang Lang is a true superstar with the profile of a rock star and molre than 40 million followers in China alone.
On June 7 he will unite with Queensland Symphony Orchestra for the first time in an evening that will make music history.
Lang Lang will perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 along with some of his favourite solo piano works. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra will also present Mussorgsky’a Pictures at an Exhibition under the baton of Conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. Following his Brisbane performance, Lang Lang will then travel to Sydney.
Lang Lang will perform with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday 7 June at 7.30 pm in the Concert Hall, QPAC (Mid-Season Gala)
Program: Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel), Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.3, plus some of Lang Lang’s all-time favourite solo piano works.
Lang Lang started playing piano aged three, won the Shenyang Competition and gave his first public recital by the time he was five, entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory aged nine, won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians’ Competition and playing the complete Chopin Etudes at the Beijing Concert Hall at 13.
He left for America, Curtis and the great piano teacher Gary Graffman and when his moment came, he was ready.
That moment happened when, aged 17, he was called upon to make a dramatic last-minute substitution for the famous Andre Watts to perform in the Gala Of The Century, playing a Tchaikovsky concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It made him what journalists like to call an “overnight star” and the world’s finest concert halls quickly beckoned.
His autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, has been published by Random House in eleven languages, and was released to critical acclaim – and as part of his commitment to the education of children, he released a version specifically for younger readers, entitled Playing with Flying Keys. He has been heralded as the “hottest artist on the classical music planet” by the New York Times, has played sold out concerts in every major city in the world and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic orchestras.
He is one of the world’s most prolific and highest-profile recording artists. Featured soloist on the Golden Globe winning score for the film The Painted Veil, composed by Alexandre Desplat, he can also be heard on the soundtracks of The Banquet, composed by Tan Dun, and of My Week With Marilyn. All of his albums have entered the top classical charts as well as many pop charts around the globe. In 2007, he was nominated for a Grammy Award, becoming the first Chinese artist to be nominated for Best Instrumental Soloist.
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