Lang Lang Helps Celebrate the Columbus Symphony’s 60th Anniversary

Heralded as the "hottest artist on the classical music planet" by The New York Times, 28-year-old Lang Lang has played sold-out recitals and concerts in every major city in the world, and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and all the top American orchestras. This international sensation joins the Columbus Symphony for an event which will be the centerpiece of the organization's 60th anniversary celebration. Led by recently appointed Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni, the evening's program will include Mussorgsky/Ravel's Pictures at an Exhibition, and feature Lang Lang on Liszt's Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra and Chopin's Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise No. 58 for Piano and Orchestra.

The Columbus Symphony presents Lang Lang at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Thursday, January 27, at 8pm. Tickets are $37.50-$97.50 and can be purchased at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. The Ohio Theatre Ticket Office will also be open two hours prior to each performance. The 2010-11 Classical Series is made possible through the generous support of series sponsor Battelle. For more information about the Symphony's 60th anniversary events, including the evening's dinner and receptions, please visit www.columbussymphony.com.

Testimony to his success, Lang Lang appeared in the 2009 "Time 100"-Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2008, more than 5 billion people viewed his performance in Beijing's opening ceremony for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. This status has inspired over 40 million Chinese children to learn to play classical piano - a phenomenon coined by "The Today Show" as "the Lang Lang effect." Recognizing Lang Lang's powerful cultural influence, in 2008, the Recording Academy named him their Cultural Ambassador to China. Lang Lang was also chosen as an official worldwide ambassador to the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

Continuing his presence on the world stage, Lang Lang was featured at the 2008 Grammy Awards, pairing up with jazz great Herbie Hancock for an astounding performance that was broadcast live to 45 million viewers worldwide. The two pianists continued their collaboration with an inaugural world tour in 2009.

Lang Lang has made it his mission to share classical music with the world, concentrating on training children and young musicians through education and outreach programs. He launched the Lang Lang International Music Foundation in New York with the support of the Grammy Awards and UNICEF. The foundation was created to enrich the lives of children through a deeper understanding and enjoyment of classical music, and to inspire and financially support the next generation of musicians. In 2009, Lang Lang and his three chosen 8-10 year old scholars from the foundation performed together on The Oprah Winfrey Show on "Oprah's Search for the World's Most Smartest and Most Talented Kids."

Lang Lang also continues to give master classes regularly throughout the world at the invitation of the most prestigious music institutions, including the Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Hanover Conservatory, as well as all the top conservatories of China where he holds honorary professorships. He has held music residencies in Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, London, Rome, and Stockholm, which include master classes for exceptional students. In addition to his numerous commitments, Lang Lang holds the title of the first Ambassador of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. His role in this groundbreaking project created by YouTube and Google reflects his devotion to building new audiences and bringing classical music to young people worldwide.

In 2009, Lang Lang continued his busy touring schedule around the world. He was a featured highlight of the Carnegie Hall festival "Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: Celebrating Chinese Culture" where he premiered Chen Qigang's new piano concerto Er Huang, and closed the festival with a performance of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He presented "Lang Lang and Friends," a concert featuring rising talent from the US and China performing works by Western and Chinese composers. In addition, the Musikverein in Vienna presented the Lang Lang Fest, which included a joint concert between Lang Lang and Cecilia Bartoli. As the youngest instrumentalist to ever receive an invitation, Lang Lang will also be in residence with the Berlin Philharmonic, which has several concerts including the New Year's Eve concert and a concert with 100 school children in the spring. In the 2010-11 season, Lang Lang will hold residencies in London, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Sydney. His biography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, is published in eleven languages and was released to critical acclaim. As part of his commitment to the education of children, he released a version of his autobiography specifically for younger readers, entitled Playing with Flying Keys.

Tens of thousands of people have enjoyed Lang Lang's performances in open-air concerts in parks and venues around the globe, including New York City's Central Park, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Chicago's Ravinia Festival, Theaterplatz in Dresden and Hamburg's Derby Park. In 2007, Lang Lang was guest soloist at the Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm, an event attended by the Nobel Laureates and members of the Royal Family. He returned as soloist for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony and concert for President Barack H. Obama. Collaborating with Seiji Ozawa, he appeared at the New Year's Eve gala, opening for the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He participated in the opening concert at Munich's Olympic Stadium with Mariss Janson, marking the commencement of the World Cup. In a celebratory concert for the closing of '08 Euro Cup finals, Lang Lang played with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta in front of Schönbrunn Palace, a concert at the Waldbühne with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, and the Staatskapelle Berlin with Daniel Barenboim.

Lang Lang began playing piano at the age of three, and by the age of five, had won the Shenyang competition and had given his first public recital. Entering Beijing's Central Music Conservatory at age nine, he won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition, and played the complete 24 Chopin Études at the Beijing Concert Hall at age 13. Lang Lang's break into stardom came at age 17 when he was called upon for a dramatic last-minute substitution at the "Gala of the Century," playing the Tchaikovsky concerto with the Chicago Symphony. Following this gigantic debut, he performed successful concerts around the world. The Times in London remarked, "Lang Lang took a sold-out Albert Hall by storm... This could well be history in the making." He has made numerous TV appearances, including "The Today Show," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Good Morning America," "CBS Early Show," and "60 Minutes" among many others. Lang Lang has been featured on every major TV network and in news and lifestyle magazines worldwide, including such diverse publications as The New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue, The Times, Financial Times, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Die Welt, Reader's Digest, and People. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as the "biggest, most exciting keyboard talent encountered in many years," Lang Lang has progressed from one triumphant appearance to the next.

In 2004, he was appointed International Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Lang Lang has contributed and worked to raise funds and awareness for earthquake relief efforts in China and Haiti. This included auctioning the red Steinway piano played during his 2008 New York Central Park concert, donating the net proceeds to the American Red Cross China Earthquake Fund and a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. As Chairman of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award Project, Lang Lang celebrates another aspect of arts commitment. He also currently serves on the
Weill Music Institute Advisory Committee as part of Carnegie Hall's educational program and is the youngest member of Carnegie Hall's Artistic Advisory Board. He has been added as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders picked by the World Economic Forum and received the 2010 Crystal Award in Davos.

Lang Lang is featured soloist on the Golden Globe winning score The Painted Veil composed by Alexandre Desplat, and can be heard on the soundtrack of The Banquet composed by Tan Dun. All of his albums have entered the top classical charts as well as many pop charts around the globe. His album of the First and Fourth Beethoven Piano concertos with L'Orchestre de Paris and Maestro Christoph Eschenbach debuted at #1 on the Classical Billboard Chart. Lang Lang also appeared on Billboard's New Artist chart at the highest position ever for a classical artist. In 2007, he was nominated for a Grammy, becoming the first Chinese artist to be nominated for Best Instrumental Soloist. He was honored by The Recording Academy with the 2007 Presidential Merit Award. Past recipients include Zubin Mehta and Luciano Pavarotti. He recorded the movie soundtrack of the Japanese blockbuster film Nodame Cantabile, Chopin 24 Etudes for Project Chopin (the largest project in honor of Chopin's bicentenary), and the recording Nuit De Mai with Placido Domingo. Lang Lang's latest recording is of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky piano trios with Vadim Repin and Misha Maisky. In 2010, Lang Lang joined Sony Music Entertainment as exclusive recording artist. His first album with Sony features a live recording of his 2010 recital at Vienna's legendary Musikverein.

www.langlang.com

About Jean-Marie
Jean-Marie has emerged as one of Canada's brightest young conductors with an eloquent yet fiery style, in repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. On October 5, 2010, he was installed as the Columbus Symphony's music director, and will lead the artistic direction of the organization for the next four years.

A graduate of the Montreal Conservatory, Jean-Marie earned three master's degrees in conducting, percussion, and theory. He made his US orchestra debut with the Oregon Symphony in the spring of 2005, and has since conducted and often made repeat appearances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg Symphonies in Canada, and the Houston, Oregon, Honolulu, Columbus, Huntsville, San Antonio, and Omaha Symphonies in the US. Very active as an opera conductor, Jean-Marie led numerous productions with the Cincinnati Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opéra de Montreal, l'Opéra de Quebec, Glimmerglass Opera, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, l'Opéra de Marseille, and at the Banff Centre Festival.

Jean-Marie's association with Les Violons du Roy, a celebrated chamber orchestra based in Québec City, goes back 10 years, first as conductor-in-residence, then as associate conductor, and since 2008, as principal guest conductor. In 2006, he recorded his first CD with Les Violons du Roy entitled Piazzolla which received a 2007 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year in the category Solo or Chamber Ensemble. They have also recorded two subsequent CDs-Bartok (2008) and Britten (2010).

About Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Mussorgsky was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.
Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. For many years, Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements that he composed for piano in 1874. It is his most famous piano composition, and has become known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other musicians and composers. Ravel's arrangement is the most recorded and performed.

About Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Franz Liszt was a 19th century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, and teacher that became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg, and Alexander Borodin. His body of work is extensive and diverse, influencing his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipating some 20th-century ideas and trends. Liszt composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major over a 26-year period. It consists of four movements which are performed without breaks, lasting approximately 20 minutes. It premiered in Weimar in 1855, with Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.

About Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849)
Chopin was a Polish composer, virtuoso pianist, music teacher, and one of the great masters of Romantic music. A renowned child prodigy pianist and composer, all of Chopin's works involve the piano. They are technically demanding, but emphasize nuance and expressive depth. Chopin invented the musical form known as the instrumental ballade and made major innovations to the piano sonata, mazurka, waltz, nocturne, polonaise, étude, impromptu and prélude. Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major was composed between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, in 1830-31. In 1834, Chopin wrote an Andante spianato in G, for piano solo, which he added to the start of the piece, and joined the two parts with a fanfare-like sequence. The Combined work was published in 1836 as Op. 22.

www.columbussymphony.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.