Lang Lang and Gustavo Dudamel

Lang first began playing piano age three and it only took him two years before he won his first local competition in Shenyang. In the creative footsteps of his father, a well-known ehru player in China, Lang moved to Beijing when he was nine to continue his studies at the Central Music Conservatory. Initially having trouble with his lessons, Lang’s love for the piano was revitalised when a music teacher asked him to play along to Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.10 in C major, as has since developed a proclivity for classical Western music.

Lang later studied under Professor Zhao Ping-Guo, won the 1993 Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition and first prize at the fourth International Competition for Young Pianist in Ettlingen, Germany. Still in his early teens the Chinese pianist garnered a lot of attention, earned a number of acclaimed awards including first place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and played with some of the most well-respected orchestras in the world. At 15 Lang moved to Philadelphia, U.S., and began his studentship under Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Known for his charismatic appeal that has more in common with rock stars and concert pianists, Lang made his U.S. debut at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago in 1999, followed by a show at Carnegie Hall, New York, in 2001. Following a tour with the Philadelphia Orchestra and a show at the Proms, in Royal Albert Hall, London, the pianist made his recoding debut in 2003. The CD featured Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn’s first piano concertos with Berenbolm and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and earned Lang considerable acclaim. He later performed at Beijing’s opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics to over a billion people.

The pianist has since provided the score to a number of soundtracks including “The Painted Veil” and “The Banquet”, has played to a number of respected figures including Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II, and has performed on high profile TV shows and at events including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony.