Yuja Wang

Yuja Wang (Chinese: 王羽佳; pinyin: Wáng Yǔjiā;^[1] born February 10, 1987^[2]) is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.^[3]

Early life

Wang comes from a musical family. She entered Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music at age seven and studied there for three years. Wang moved to Canada at age 14 to learn English and study at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary.

Career

In 1998, Wang won 3rd Prize in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists, in Ettlingen, Germany. In 2001, she won Third Prize and Special Jury Prize (awarded to an especially superior finalist of less than 20 years in age, prize money of 500,000 Japanese Yen) in the Piano Section at the First Sendai International Music Competition in Sendai, Japan.^[4]

In 2003 Wang made her European debut with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, Switzerland, playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 under the baton of David Zinman. She made her North American debut in Ottawa in the 2005-06 season replacing Radu Lupu performing the Beethoven concerto with Pinchas Zukerman conducting.

On September 11, 2005, Wang was named a 2006 biennial Gilmore Young Artist award winner, given to the most promising pianists age 21 and younger. As part of the award, she received $15,000, appeared at Gilmore Festival concerts, and had a new piano work commissioned for her.^[5]

Starting at age 15, she studied for five years with Gary Graffman, who was also Lang Lang's teacher, at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated in May 2008. She is increasing the number of concerts she is playing, and has "developed a novel reputation" of replacing sick pianists, yet going on "to deliver a knockout performance."^[3][6]

In 2006-2007, she performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in the Netherlands, the China Philharmonic in Beijing and the Guangzhou Symphony and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

In March 2007, Wang replaced the legendary pianist Martha Argerich in concerts held in Boston.^[6] Argerich had cancelled her appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on four subscription concerts from March 8 to March 13.^[6] Wang performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, with Charles Dutoit conducting, receiving highly favorable reviews.^[3]

On March 14, 2007, Wang was featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered program.^[7]

Wang played twice in Albuquerque in summer 2007,^[8] and three concerts in Kansas City with its Symphony in November 2007.^[9]

On January 21, 2008, She played at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan and, to standing ovations, returned to the stage repeatedly for a triple encore that included Gluck's Mélodie from Orfeo (Wang's transcription, after Giovanni Sgambati), Turkish March by Mozart (Volodos's transcription), and Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee (Cziffra's virtuosic arrangement).

On April 2, 2008, Wang played with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in Boston Symphony Hall, on a concert originally scheduled to be conducted from the keyboard by Murray Perahia and she performed in the 2008 Verbier Festival to great acclaim.

2008 residency at SPAC

In the summer of 2008, Wang played two performances at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), for which she was introduced by SPAC President Marcia White.^[10][11] Wang was called a "new pianist star", "a phenom", "a whiz", and "a sensation" after her concerto concerts at SPAC in August 2008.^{[3][12][13][14]}

In her first concert, with the Saratoga Chamber Orchestra, Wang "performed Liszt’s prodigiously difficult" Sonata in B minor.^[13][14] A reviewer said that:

It’s a very long work that goes for almost 50 minutes [actually 30 minutes] of constant playing. Like much of Liszt’s music, this one ebbed and flowed from great dramatic moments to quiet ephemeral sections filled with a romantically ethereal melody. It took a page or so of music before Wang was completely involved emotionally, but once she was—wozzah. She has technique to burn. Her octave runs at lightning speed were incredible. The volume and big sound she got out of the piano, which in the big chordal passages sounded like giant footsteps, contrasted sharply with the lacy streams of notes. Her delicate stroking of the melody was like angels singing. Now and then, she’d lift off the piano stool in her intensity. Yet with all her passion, Wang was always in control. Her concentration was focused. She was unhesitating in pacing herself in accordance with the work’s demands. Her vision was a dramatic one. It was great stuff and the crowd loved it. Wang got a standing ovation and several curtain calls.

—Geraldine Freedman, in The Daily Gazette^[13]

Another reviewer wrote that:

Some say this music shows the different facets of the composer's personality, and Wang exposed the most gentle, languorous aspects of the piece every bit as perfectly as the hard-edged, pounding furor. Just 21, hair blunt-cut to hide her face in profile at the piano, Wang is a quiet, unaffected presence as she plays, utterly without body language except when the force of her arms on the keys lifts her slight frame from the bench. This young pianist is a technical whiz who makes every note speak for itself.

—Judith White, in The Saratogian^[14]

She also played Brahms' Horn Trio with the Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster, David Kim, and Philadelphia's principal horn, Jennifer Montone, in which "Wang showed herself entirely capable of playing in ensemble."^[14]

For her second concert, she performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 at SPAC to spectacular reviews, in which it was noted that she "is probably not much older than Prokofiev when he wrote the work."^[12] One reviewer wrote:

Wang used punchy, dry articulated fingerwork and strongly accented the pulses, which only added to the flavor. In the inner slow movement with its plaintive melody, Wang stroked the keys tenderly and gave the lovely melody good lift. The orchestra under Charles Dutoit was solidly enthusiastic. The crowd went wild with whistles and cheers and gave her a standing ovation and several curtain calls. Wang was a real-life star....

—Geraldine Freedman, in The Daily Gazette^[12]

Recording contract

In January 2009, Wang signed an exclusive recording contract for five discs with Deutsche Grammophon.^[15] In March, she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. On April 15, 2009 Wang performed at the Youtube Symphony Orchestra event held in New York at Carnegie Hall. In May, she performed Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto number 2 with the San Francisco Symphony.^[16] In August, she played his third Piano Concerto under Claudio Abbado in the Opening Concert of the Lucerne Festival, with live broadcast and telecast in the Swiss first national programm SF 1.^[17] In June/July, she appeared, like the year before, at the Verbier Festival, and in November, she had her first solo concert in Zurich at the prestiguous Tonhalle Zurich (her second visit after her famous European debut here in 2003, see above), with a program featuring Liszt, Schumann, and Chopin.^[18]

Personal life

Wang currently lives in New York City, but travels most of the time playing concerts around the world.

Discography

Although there are reports that Wang released a debut CD in 1995,^[19][20][21] there is little information available about it. She has released two CDs, Sonatas & Etudes and Transformations, on the Deutsche Grammophon label.^[22] Her next CD is reportedly of Rachmaninoff concertos, with Claudio Abbado conducting.^[23]

In addition, EuroArts has released a DVD on which she performs Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, with Abbado conducting.^[24]

Sonatas & Etudes (2009)

Sonatas & Etudes is Wang's first CD on general release. It was recorded in November 2008 and released April 20, 2009. It was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award in the category Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra).^[25] It includes the following tracks.

Transformation (2010)

Transformation is Wang's second CD on general release. It was released April 13, 2010 and includes the following tracks.

References

External links

• Official website
• Yuja Wang at Allmusic
• Profile of Yuja Wang on Opus3 Artists site