Yuja Wang performs Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff this month

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Yuja WangYuja Wang is a surprisingly versitle pianist for such a young age. She will make her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra this week (February 19 to 21) performing the Prokofiev Concerto No. 2. Later in the month she appears with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (February 26 - March 1) performing Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3. On the basis of her Terrace Theater recital last year, as well as her two outings with the Baltimore Symphony (in the first Liszt concerto and the first Prokofiev concerto), there will be fireworks aplenty. To seal the deal in D.C., one of the finest conductors, Charles Dutoit, will be at the podium with the National Symphony, also leading works by Ravel and Stravinsky. Not to be missed. Arild Remmereit will conduct the Dallas Symphony for a "From Russia with Love" concert including Prokofiev's Symphony No 7 and Khachaturian's Suite from Spartacus.

Unfortunately, Ms Wang will not be playing the new concerto by Jennifer Higdon, abandoned by Lang Lang two years ago now and apparently still not ready. According to Ms Higdon's website it is due for it's premiere this this coming December, still with the National Symphony Orchestra and Ms Wang.

Yuja Wang
At age 20, Yuja Wang has already established herself as one of the most significant artists of her generation. Born in Beijing in 1987, Yuja was drawn to piano at the age of six when she began studying music in China. She eventually enrolled at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, studying with Professors Ling Yuan and Zhou Guangren. Her earliest public performances took place in China, Australia and Germany. Yuja was a prizewinner in many competitions within China, as well as in Spain and Germany. In 2001, she won the first prize in the Junior Group of the Seiler International Piano Competition. She also won the third prize and was the recipient of the Special Jury Award at the First Japan Sendai International Music Competition.

Charles Dutoit
Throughout a career that has energetically spanned the globe and mined the riches of orchestral repertoire, Charles Dutoit has exhibited a passion for excellence and insatiable discovery. Renowned for polished and idiomatic interpretations of an eclectic array of musical styles, he regularly collaborates with the world's pre-eminent orchestras and soloists.

Arild Remmereit
Norwegian born conductor, resided since 1987 in Vienna, Austria, took his first piano lessons at the age of six, his first trumpet lessons at eight, and had also a career as a boy soprano. Later he joined pop and jazz bands playing keyboards. In 1986 he graduated from the Norwegian Conservatory of Music in Oslo where he studied piano, song and composition. He attended the Aspen conducting seminar in Colorado (1985), and he graduated from "Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst" in Vienna under the direction of Prof. Karl Österreicher (1987-92). At the same institution he attended a master class with Zubin Mehta.

February 19-21 Washington D.C.
National Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conductor
Prokofiev No. 2

Tickets available at The Kennedy Center website

February 26-March 1 Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony, Arild Remmereit conductor
Rachmaninoff No. 3

Tickets available at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra website

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