If only my kids, both aspiring pianists, knew how privileged they were today. On Sunday, January 8th, 2006, the world famous Chinese piano prodigy Lang Lang completed his fourth day of performances with the San Francisco Symphony. Lang Lang's name means "brilliant." And that he is! Sitting in our four loge seats above, we could not only see Lang Lang in action we could feel his soul exuding from ten finger tips that are attached an electric body. His eggplant purple velvet jacket only added to the personal charisma that is drawing sell-out audiences around the world.

After his performance of Beethoven's formidable Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, our ten year-old said, "He was really good at dynamics." When I asked her what she meant by this, she said, "It was amazing how he played so tenderly one minute and with such effervescence the next."

After a standing ovation that brought Lang Lang back to the stage four times, he surprised us all with an encore. Lang Lang chose a Chinese piece called "Happy Holidays!" Again, the audience rose to their feet. The cameras furiously went off. If the concert had been over, we would have all left Davies Symphony Hall more than satisfied.

During the intermission, there were many requests at the Symphony Store for signed copies of Lang Lang's CDs. Unfortunately, all that were available had been sold before the concert even began.

However, the manager of the store, Michael Gallardo, smartly wrote a letter to SFS patrons suggesting that the additional box, which was supposed to have arrived on Friday, will be here on Monday.

Unfortunately, Lang Lang will be long gone and unable to sign the second box of CDs and DVDs. However, while supplies last, CDs can be purchased for $22 through the SFS Store, and "Live at Carnegie Hall" dvds can be purchased for $32.

Friends of the Symphony receive a 10% discount when they include their patron number. Please call 415.503.5321 for details.

Lang Lang's Next Early 2006 Performances

From San Francisco, Lang Lang heads south to Los Angeles, where he will performs works by Shostakovich and Tchiakovsky on January 10th.

On January 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th, he and Esa-Pekka Salonen will perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

If you plan to be in Beijing in a couple of weeks, on January 22nd, Lang Lang will join two Austrian musicians, Dominik Hellsberg, a violinist and Maria Radutu, also a pianist, in a series of celebrations to commemorate the 250th birthday of well-known Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

According to DeutscheGrammophon.com, Lang Lang is also expected to put on a recital in Beijing on January 17th, in Dongguanon, China on January 23rd and in Toulouse, France on January 26th.

Also this month, Lang Lang's new studio recital album entitled Memory is expected to be released.

His web site states that the CD, "reflects Lang Lang's journey from child prodigy to international pianist in his own right, grouping works by Mozart, Chopin, and Schumann that shaped Lang Lang's experience as a budding musician in China."

About Lang Lang

Lang Lang was born on June 14th, 1982 in Shenyang, China -- northeast of Beijing.

He grew up listening to his father, Guo-ren Lang, play a 1,000-year old Chinese two-stringed instrument, similar to a violin, called an er hu.

Before Lang Lang had his second birthday, his parents spent half their yearly income (approximately $300 U.S.) to purchase a piano. That investment would change all of their lives, forever.

Lang Lang began piano lessons at the age of three with Professor Zhu Ya-Fen. As a child, he practiced seven hours a day.

He was five years old when he played in his first official concert recital in his hometown. His biggest challenge was being able to reach the foot pedals. He won the Shenyang Piano Competition and played his first public recital.

His teachers told Lang Lang's parents that they must help him become a world class musician. However, it was also one of his teachers who fired him after there was no evident chemistry between the two.

Lang Lang entered Beijing's Central Music Conservatory when he was nine, studying with Professor Zhao Ping-Guo.

In Beijing, the apartment he lived in was so cold, he practiced piano, in part, to stay warm. The piano he played on was a Swedish piano purchased by his parents. He played so much and so hard that the piano finally broke.

At the age of 11, he won first prize and the award for outstanding artistic performance at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany.

In 1995 at 13 years of age, Lang Lang played the complete Chopin 24 Etudes at Beijing Concert Hall.

He won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians' Competition in Japan, where he performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert broadcast by NHK Television.

At 14 he was a featured soloist at the China National Symphony's inaugural concert, broadcast by CCTV and attended by President Jiang Zemin.

At 15, he won first prizes in young pianist competitions in Germany and Japan.

The following year, accompanied by his father, he came to the U.S. and began studying under Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.

In 1999, at seventeen, Lang Lang got his breakthrough when he substituted at the last-minute substitution for an ailing Andre Watts at the Ravinia Festival's "Gala of the Century". Introduced by Isaac Stern, he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Christoph Eschenbach).

The Chicago Tribune called him the biggest, most exciting keyboard talent encountered in many years.

Teen People Magazine named him one of the "Top 20 Teens Who Will Change the World".

He has been featured live on "Good Morning America" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

He has been the subject of articles in The Wall Street Journal.

Prior to his 17th birthday, a Chinese biography of his life began appearing in bookstores in China.

In October 2000, he made his San Francisco Symphony debut. Before this week's performance, his most recent appearance was in March 2005, when he performed with the China Philharmonic.

In 2001 he made his sold-out Carnegie Hall debut with Temirkanov.

From there he traveled 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. There he made an acclaimed BBC Proms debut, prompting The Times of London's critic to write: "Lang Lang took a sold-out Royal Albert Hall by storm...This could well be history in the making."

In the summer of 2002, he became the first recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, in recognition of Lang Lang's distinguished musical talent.

In 2003, Lang Lang returned to the BBC Proms for the First Night concert with Leonard Slatkin. After his recent recital debut in the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berliner Zeitung wrote: "Lang Lang is a superb musical performer whose artistic touch is always in service of the music."

He has the distinction of being the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic.

His 2004 performance with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Waldbuhne was attended by 23,000 people and was broadcast internationally on TV.

On May 20th 2004, in recognition of his dedication to sharing music with young people, Lang Lang was appointed by UNICEF as its youngest Goodwill Ambassador.

Upon his appointment, Lang Lang said:

Music is like a language, it's like a universal language, it has the connection to the people and also the feeling from your soul, from your heart.

I think the best way to reach children is to play them music, this really opens their ears and their minds.

Lang Lang has performed with the major orchestras of the world, including the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He has collaborated with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Franz Welser-Most.

When he is not on tour, which is most of the year, or practicing two hours a day, he takes time to teach other prodigies. He prefers calling these "chat sessions" rather than masterclasses. He also likes to play ping pong, watch TV and hang out with his friends. His role model is Tiger Woods.

Lang Lang records exclusively for the German record label, Deutsche Grammophon. Deutsche Grammophon is the same company that owned the Beatles' first record label, Polydor Records. They are also responsible for releasing work by Helene Grimaud and Elvis Costello (who we will see live at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall on March 27th).

Today, Deutsche Grammophon is part of the Universal Music Group, a division of Vivendi Universal.

Lang Lang's newest DG recording, Memory -- to be released in January 2006 -- includes works by Mozart, Chopin, and Schumann.

He is quoted as saying, "When I start to play, my mind remembers the theory, but my heart starts a journey."

To learn more, please explore:

On Sunday afternoon, as Lang Lang played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to watch Lang Lang play in a competition against the maestro Beethoven. I would venture to guess that it would be as popular as this year's World Cup and the Olympics combined.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "Lang Lang long" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC