Lang Lang (pianist)
Lang Lang holds the title of the first Ambassador of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he performed both at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Nobel Peace Prize concert for US President Barack Obama. In 2010, he will be featured at the Carnegie Hall s China Festival. Lang Lang has stated his mission is to share classical music around the world, with an emphasis on training children and young musicians through education. He participated in the opening concert at Munich s Olympic Stadium with Mariss Jansons, marking the commencement of the World Cup and 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. In 2008, over 5 billion people viewed Lang Lang’s performance in Beijing’s opening ceremony for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad where he was promoted as a symbol of the youth and future of China.The two were again brought in by United Airlines for the reintroduction of their It s Time to Fly advertising campaign with a series of new animated commercials, aired during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Lang Lang (Chinese: 郎朗; pinyin: Láng Lǎng) (born June 14, 1982) is a Chinese pianist. He was born in Shenyang, China of Manchu ancestry.
This could well be history in the making . Lang Lang is featured soloist on the Golden Globe winning score of The Painted Veil composed by Alexandre Desplat and can be heard on the soundtrack of The Banquet composed by Tan Dun. Lang Lang appeared in a Time 100 – Time magazine s annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. .
The following year he began studies with Gary Graffman and Dick Doran at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Lang Lang has played sold out recitals and concerts in many major cities and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and the top American orchestras. Lang Lang s performances have also been criticized. He played at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony of 2009, and at the Nobel Peace Prize consert in Oslo the next day. Lang Lang has made numerous TV appearances, including on such shows as The Today Show, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show and 60 Minutes.
When he was only two years old, he saw Tom playing piano in The Cat Concerto, a Tom and Jerry cartoon on TV (Tom was attempting the Hungarian Rhapsody No. His performance style has been referred to as having soggy rhythms and heavy phrasing. Lang Lang is well known for his exaggerated mannerisms and facial expressions while playing piano, which has affected his recent performances, such as that of Liszt s Hungarian Rhapsody No.
During the 2008 Olympics he was also featured as a cultural correspondent on ZDF and made several special appearances on NBC s Today Show Summer Olympics broadcasts. 2 in C-sharp Minor and Réminiscences de Don Juan.
Delacorte Press also released a version of his autobiography specifically for younger readers, entitled Playing with Flying Keys. Lang Lang has received numerous awards and has been seen by millions of television viewers throughout the world. In 1993, Lang won the Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition in Beijing, being awarded first prize for outstanding artistic performance at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany the next year.
Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang will continue to collaborate with an inaugural world tour in summer 2009. This has received criticism, though others have defended his displays, arguing In 2001 he made his sold-out Carnegie Hall debut with Yuri Temirkanov, travelled to Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra on a tour celebrating its 100th anniversary, during which he performed to an audience of 8,000 at the Great Hall of the People, and made an acclaimed BBC Proms debut, prompting a music critic of the British newspaper The Times to write, Lang Lang took a sold-out Royal Albert Hall by storm..
Lang Lang records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, and every CD he has made has entered the top classical charts as well as many pop charts around the globe. Collaborating with Maestro Seiji Ozawa, he appeared at the New Year’s Eve gala opening for the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Lang Lang has been featured on various news and lifestyle magazines, including diverse publications such as The New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue (Germany), The Times (London), Financial Times, GQ, Die Welt, Reader’s Digest and People. 2 in C-sharp minor composed by Franz Liszt).
According to Lang Lang, this first contact with Western music is what motivated him to learn piano. When he was nine years old, when Lang Lang was nearing his audition for Beijing s Central Conservatory of Music, he had difficulties with his lessons, and was expelled from his piano tutor s studio for lack of talent. Lang was later admitted into the Conservatory under the study of Professor Zhao Ping-Guo. 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 has performed for numerous international dignitaries including the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, President Hu Jintao of China, President Horst Koehler of Germany, Prince Charles, as well as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. To date, tens of thousands of people have seen Lang Lang’s performances in open-air concerts in parks and venues, including New York City’s Central Park, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, suburban Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Theaterplatz in Dresden and Hamburg’s Derby Park. In December 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.
In the opening ceremony he performed a melody from the Yellow River Cantata with seven-year-old Li Muzi. In February 2008, Lang Lang and legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock performed together at the 2008 Grammy Awards, playing George Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue. The Financial Times noted that Lang Lang is evangelical in his efforts to spread the popularity of classical music. Lang Lang s biography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, published by Random House in eight languages, was released in the summer of 2008.
