By age 21, she was already an internationally recognized concert pianist and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.[3][4] She has since established herself as one of the leading artists of her generation.[5] Wang currently lives in New York.[6][7]
Early life and educationedit
Wang comes from an artistic family. Her mother, Zhai Jieming, is a dancer and her father, Wang Jianguo, is a percussionist. Both live in Beijing.[8]
Wang began learning the piano at age six.[2] At age seven, she began studies at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. At age eleven, Wang entered the Morningside Music Bridge International Music Festival (at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta) as the festival's youngest student.[9]
At the age of fifteen, Wang entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied for five years with Gary Graffman and graduated in 2008. Graffman said that Wang's technique impressed him during her audition, but "it was the intelligence and good taste" of her interpretations that distinguished her.[8]
Careeredit
Early careeredit
In 1998, at the age of eleven, Wang received third prize in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists in Germany.[10] Three years later, she won the third prize and the special jury prize (awarded to an outstanding finalist less than 20 years of age, with prize money of 500,000 Japanese yen) at the first Sendai International Music Competition in Sendai, Japan.[11]
On September 11, 2005, Wang was named a 2006 biennial Gilmore Young Artist Award winner, given to the most promising pianists age 22 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.[14]
In a departure from her previously predominantly Russian repertoire, Wang played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, the Jeunehomme, in February 2016 at David Geffen Hall in New York on four successive nights with Charles Dutoit conducting, then, in her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev in Munich and Paris.[26]
On January 28, 2023, Wang performed all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos and his Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini in a single concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, a feat conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin likened to climbing Mount Everest.[29] An audience member collapsed during the last movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2, causing the concert to be paused while they received medical attention. The movement was restarted 20 minutes later.[30] After completing the final concerto, Wang played “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice as an encore.[31]
From the opening piece, an early Scriabin prelude, Ms. Wang played this Chopinesque music, all rippling left-hand figures, and dreamy melodic lines, with a delicacy, poetic grace, and attention to inner musical details that commanded respect.
After intermission she offered a rhapsodic, uncommonly nuanced account of the formidable Liszt Sonata in B minor. But the most revealing performance came in Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6 in A. Completed in 1940, this nearly 30-minute work channels some barbaric, propulsive, harmonically brittle outbursts into a formal four-movement sonata structure. In most readings, intriguing tension results from hearing the music of such aggressive modernism reined in by Neo-Classical constraints. Ms. Wang reconciled these conflicting elements through a performance of impressive clarity and detail.[33]
In June 2012, Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Wang is "quite simply, the most dazzlingly, uncannily gifted pianist in the concert world today, and there's nothing left to do but sit back, listen and marvel at her artistry."[34]
From a May 2013 Carnegie Hall concert, The New York Times reported that Wang's "fortissimos were fearsome, but so, in a quieter way, were the longing melodic lines of the first movement of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No. 2." The reviewer added:
The liquidity of her phrasing in the second movement of Scriabin's Sonata No. 2 eerily evoked the sound of woodwinds. In that composer's Sonata No. 6 she juxtaposed colors granitic and gauzy to eerily brilliant effect before closing the written program with a rabid rendition of the one-piano version of "La valse", accentuating the sickliness of Ravel's distorted waltzes.[35]
In May 2016, The New York Times reviewed her performance of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata:
Ms. Wang's virtuosity goes well beyond the uncanny facility. Right through this Beethoven performance she wondrously brought out intricate details, inner voices, and harmonic colorings. The first movement had élan and daring. The scherzo skipped along with mischievousness and rhythmic bite. In the grave, with great slow movement, she played with restraint and poignancy. She kept you on edge during the elusive transition to the gnarly, dense fugue, which she then dispatched with unfathomable dexterity.
This was not a probing or profound Hammerklavier. But I admired Ms. Wang's combination of youthful energy and musical integrity.[36]
External image
Wang at the Hollywood Bowl, 2011
Wang has received attention for her eye-catching outfits and glamorous stage presence as well as for her piano playing. In a much-quoted 2011 review of a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Times classical music critic Mark Swed wrote:
But it was Yuja Wang's orange dress for which Tuesday night is likely to be remembered… Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult. Had her heels been any higher, walking, to say nothing of her sensitive pedaling, would have been unfeasible.[37]
Swed was criticized for this aspect of his review by Anne Midgette in a Washington Post article titled "Which offends? Her short dress or critic's narrow view?".[38]
In January 2023, Wang's more than four-hour marathon concert of all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos at Carnegie Hall garnered widespread attention and acclaim. Clemency Burton-Hill wrote that "Wang's ability to reconcile the many complexities of the moment with such grace, even joy, was notable".[40]Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times wrote: "virtuosity on this level, in material this ravishing, is elevating to witness — which is why, even after so many hours, I was left at the end feeling an exhilarated lightness."[31]
^Krista Soriano and Leah Melby Clinton, "For Yuja Wang, You're only as Good as Your Next Performance", Elle, November 20, 2017; Janet Malcolm, "Yuja Wang and the Art of Performance", The New Yorker, September 5, 2016
^Woolfie, Zachary (January 31, 2023). "Review: Yuja Wang Sweeps Through a Rachmaninoff Marathon - It was a momentous occasion as Wang played all five of Rachmaninoff's works for piano and orchestra at Carnegie Hall for one show only. - Comment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ abSchweitzer, Vivien (April 6, 2012). "Talented, Eye-Catching, Unapologetic". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^Wang, Yuja (June 9, 2010). Concert Pianist Yuja Wang Talks About the Mount Royal Conservatory. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
^Prizewinners 1998, Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists
^"1st SIMC Piano Section May 26 – June 9, 2001". Sendai International Music Competition for Violin & Piano. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
^"Young Artist of the Year Award – Yuja Wang". Gramophone. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Gilmore Young Artist Award". The Gilmore. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
^ ab"Yuja Wang – About". YujaWang.com. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^ ab"News: Martha Argerich Cancels This Week's Appearances with Boston Symphony". PlaybillArts. March 5, 2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
^"Argerich Cancels On BSO". The Boston Globe. March 5, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^Cheadle, James. "Taking Flight" (PDF). BBC Music. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Mendelssohn in Verbier". EuroArts. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Yuja Wang, pianist". Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Perform Six-City, 10-Concert Asian Tour in November" (PDF). San Francisco Symphony. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^Jean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p.51. ISBN 978 2 3505 5192 0.
^"Yuja Wang grabo con Deutsche Grammophon en Caracas". Venezuela Sinfonica. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Yuja Wang". Carnegie Hall. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^"Yuja Wang debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker". Berliner Philharmoniker. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
^Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna Da (July 12, 2017). "National Youth Orchestras Bring Friendly Competition to New York". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
^"Kennedy Center Honors 2019 – Performers, Songs, & Honorees Revealed!" (PDF). Just Jared. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
^Hernández, Javier C. (January 26, 2023). "Yuja Wang, Daredevil Pianist, Takes on a Musical Everest". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
^Dobrin, Peter (January 29, 2023). "Listener collapses at Philadelphia Orchestra's Carnegie Hall marathon". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
^ abWoolfe, Zachary (January 29, 2023). "Review: Yuja Wang Sweeps Through a Rachmaninoff Marathon". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
^"Prom 35: Yuja Wang with the Oslo Philharmonic and Klaus Mäkelä". BBC Music Events. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
^Kosman, Joshua (June 19, 2012). "S.F. Symphony review: Wang's awesome Rachmaninoff". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^Woolfe, Zachary (May 17, 2013). "Restrained, Then Madly Lyrical: The Pianist as Spring Mechanism". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
^Tommasini, Anthony (May 15, 2016). "Yuja Wang Tackles Beethoven's Hammerklavier, Assured to a Fault". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^Mark Swed (August 3, 2011). "Music review: Yuja Wang and Lionel Bringuier at Hollywood Bowl". Los Angeles Times.
^ abc"Yuja Wang Archived Concerts - 2015". Yuja Wang Archives. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
^"Tan Dun Farewell My Concubine (2015)". WiseMusicClassical. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^"John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? etc". Classical-Music. BBC Music Magazine. August 6, 2020.
^James Manheim. "John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes". AllMusic. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^"Yuja Wang Archived Concerts - 2019". Yuja Wang Archives. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
^Bill Doolittle (January 5, 2022). "Two Of Classical Music's Brightest Young Stars, Teddy Abrams And Pianist Yuja Wang, Reunite For Louisville Orchestra Performance". LEO Weekly.
^ ab"Yuja Wang Archived Concerts - 2022". Yuja Wang Archives. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
^"Magnus Lindberg Composes Piano Concerto for Yuja Wang". Boosey & Hawkes. September 2022.
^Mark Pullinger (July 28, 2016). "Tales of Hoffmann and the Hammerklavier: Yuja Wang scales summits in Verbier". Bachtrack.
^"Yuja Wang Archived Concerts - 2016". Yuja Wang Archives. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
^"The food of love". Carlo Galante. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^"Deutsche Grammophon signs pianist Yuja Wang", 12 January 2009, musolife.com Archived January 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^"Rising star Yuja Wang steps in for pianist Radu Lupu who has been obliged to cancel his Feb. 8–9 NAC Orchestra concerts with Pinchas Zukerman for medical reasons". Canada's National Arts Centre. January 19, 2005. Retrieved July 30, 2010. She released her debut CD in 1995...
^"China Philharmonic with Yuja Wang". Strathmore. Retrieved July 30, 2010. Yuja Wang's debut CD was released in 1995.
^"The young Chinese pianist talks with Patrick P.L. Lam". Musicweb International. Retrieved November 3, 2009. Wang released her very début CD in 1995.
^"Yuja Wang Sonatas & Etudes". Deutsche Grammophon.
^"Mendelssohn in Verbier 2009 – Kurt Masur". Warner Music Medienservice. September 30, 2010.
^"Lucerne Festival 2009 (Mahler: Symphony 1 / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3)". EuroArts. July 2010.