February 25, 2003
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Brilliant prodigy Lang Lang
to perform a piano recital at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Lang Lang
• One of the most acclaimed young pianists
• Noted for his romantic flash and poetic touch
• Frequently on the Billboard best-selling classical CD chart
• Performing works by Schumann, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Chopin and Mozart/Liszt
• Thursday, April 3 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General: $35/$30, UCSB students: $19/$16
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Pianist Lang Lang, one of the most exciting performers to burst upon the classical music world in recent years, will perform on Thursday, April 3 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. Noted for his romantic flash, prize-winning prodigy Lang Lang sold out his 2001 Carnegie Hall debut and has already played with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra—all before turning 21 years old. This February Deutsche Grammophone announced the signing of an exclusive five-year contract with the Chinese-born pianist, claiming, “Lang Lang is one of classical music’s truly bright young stars. He is a tireless performer of global stature who offers a unique combination of energy, talent and media savvy.” Lang Lang’s live performances are so stunning he frequently brings wildly cheering recital audiences to their feet. The San Francisco Chronicle extols, “In the face of this young Chinese artist’s technical arsenal, there is nothing to do but gape in awestruck amazement. He gets around the keyboard with astonishing agility and exactitude; he can thunder out 10-fingered chords at top speed and volume without dropping so much as a note, and he commands a formidable dynamic range.”

Lang Lang’s Santa Barbara debut concert will feature Schumann’s Variations on the name “Abegg” for Piano in F Major, Op. 1; Haydn’s Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI/50; Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 in Bb minor; Brahms’s Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79, No. 2, Intermezzo in B-flat Minor, Op. 117, No. 2, Intermezzo in D Minor, Op. 119, No. 2, and Intermezzo in C Major, Op. 119, No. 3; Chopin’s Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27 No. 2; Mozart/Liszt’s Reminiscences of “Don Juan” (Don Giovanni), S. 418.

Lang Lang made a remarkable U.S. debut with his astonishing and masterful last-minute substitution for an indisposed Andre Watts at the Ravinia Festival’s “Gala of the Century” in August 1999. In July 2002, Lang Lang triumphantly returned to the Ravinia Festival for a week-long residency where he played five sold-out concerts including a solo recital, two concerto performances with the Chicago Symphony, a recital of Schubert duos with Christoph Eschenbach, and a program of Chinese traditional music with his father, Guo-ren Lang on erhu, an ancient two-stringed bowed instrument. He is no stranger to stages around the world, including those in his native China, where he has performed to an audience of 8,000 at the Great Hall of the People and as the soloist at the inaugural concert of the China National Symphony, which President Jiang Ze-Min attended as guest of honor.

Born in Shen Yang, China, Lang Lang began his piano studies at the age of three. He recently graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with Gary Graffman, the director of the Institute.

In addition to winning the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition, Lang Lang has collected numerous other awards at international competitions beginning at the age of five, when he won first prize in the Shen Yang Piano Competition after which he gave his first public recital. Most recently he was presented the first-ever Leonard Bernstein Award at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in honor of his distinguished musical talents.

Further information about Lang Lang and Real Player performances can be accessed on NPR’s Performance Today website at www.npr.org/programs/pt/4a/langlang.html.

Lang Lang is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the KCBX Public Radio and the Upham Hotel. Tickets are $35 and $30 for the general public and $19 and $16 for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.