Piano Virtuoso Lang Lang Performs at the Kimmel Center March 16
March 7, 2008
"There is some really fine music making going on here, offering evidence of both a big technique and a big heart behind the flashing finger work"—Classics Today
The "hottest artist on the classical music planet" (New York Times), piano virtuoso Lang Lang performs at the Kimmel Center on Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 7:30pm in Verizon Hall. Lang Lang’s most recent release, The Magic of Lang Lang, encompasses a compilation of works previously performed, ranging from traditional Chinese folk melodies to classical works and a collaboration with famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. A Curtis Institute graduate, Lang Lang studied with Gary Graffman, and since then has performed sold-out, highly energized performances at top music venues throughout the world. Lang Lang was recently recognized at the 2008 Grammy® Awards with a nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Performance and a special live performance with jazz legend Herbie Hancock. His program will include Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 20 in A, D. 959; Bartok’s Piano Sonata Sz. 80; Debussy’s Selections of Preludes, Books 1 & 2; and Polonaise Op.53 in A flat Major, "Heroic" by Chopin.
"In an age of cookie-cutter performers, Lang Lang stands out for his willingness to take chances, to produce a prism of tone colors (well beyond what Beethoven could have imagined with the instruments of his time), to stretch a tempo just a tad or even all out of proportion... What he did last night was often magical."—Baltimore Sun
This concert is the third concert in the Master Musicians Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Christoph Eschenbach & Friends on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 3pm.
Tickets for Lang Lang are $34, $40, $45, $52, $60 and $69 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
At 25 years of age, Lang Lang is an accomplished artist and the first Chinese pianist to play with the Berlin Philharmonic as well as with all of America’s "Big Five" orchestras. Within China, Lang Lang’s native country, he has achieved celebrity status, recently performing at the Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to 6000 children. Steinway recently recognized his musical prowess and ability to ignite passion in classical music with younger generations by launching a mass-produced Lang Lang piano, inscribed with his signature. Performance highlights in 2008 include the New Year’s Eve opening of the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing with Seiji Ozawa; a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Euro Cup in front of Schönbrunn Palace; as well as performing as a special guest in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Asia tour.
Lang Lang began his official study of the piano at the age of three with Professor Zhu Ya-Fen at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. He studied in Beijing with Professor Zhao Ping-Guo, and later arrived at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute. The youngest Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, Lang Lang has received musical distinctions as the recipient of the first-ever Gold Medallion on the occasion of Steinway’s 150th anniversary, the first recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in 2002 and the winner of 2004 Pennsylvania Governor’s Artist of the Year Award. In 2007, at the invitation of Prince Charles, Lang Lang performed a piano concerto commissioned in the memory of the Queen Mother, and recently appeared as part of Great Britain’s Royal Variety Show that was attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and broadcast to 13 million people.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Sunday, March 16, 2008 | 7:30pm
Verizon Hall
Master Musicians
Lang Lang, piano
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A, D. 959
BARTOK: Piano Sonata Sz. 80
DEBUSSY: Selections of Preludes, Books 1 & 2
CHOPIN: Polonaise Op.53 in A flat Major, "Heroic"
FREE AT THE KIMMEL:
Sunday, March 16, 2008 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
The Nelly Berman School of Music Student Quartet
Join us as The Nelly Berman School of Music presents its first concert on the Free in the Plaza stage. These young talents will perform classical selections prior to the ticketed Lang Lang recital in Verizon Hall.
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