Pianist Joyce Yang makes her UK recital and Berlin debuts
Pianist Joyce Yang – who won the silver medal as the youngest competitor in the Van Cliburn Competition in 2005 – looks forward to performing high-profile concerts on both sides of the Atlantic this month and next. She makes her UK recital debut on January 30 in Cambridge, with a program ranging from Beethoven and Chopin to Bartók, Rachmaninoff and Gershwin. On February 4, Yang will make her German debut, performing what has become a signature piece – Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety” – with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under James Conlon at the Philharmonie. Later in the month, Yang reunites with up-and-coming violinist Augustin Hadelich for a brief North American tour, playing at New York’s Rockefeller University on February 22 and in Mamaroneck, NY (Feb 20) and Vancouver, BC (Feb 24).
Yang’s playing has been described as “astounding” by BBC Music magazine and “vivid and beautiful” by the New York Times, while the Washington Post said: “Her attention to detail and clarity is as impressive as her agility, balance and velocity.” All of these qualities will be on display in her UK recital debut on January 30, as part of the Cambridge International Piano Series in Cambridge, England. The program includes Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 31, No. 3 and two of Chopin’s Nocturnes (Op. 15, No. 1 and Op. 55, No. 1), as well as Bartók’s Out of Doors suite and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2 (in his 1931 revision). The pianist will also play virtuoso transcriptions by Earl Wild of vocal works by Rachmaninoff (“The Little Island” and Vocalise) and Gershwin (“The Man I Love”).
Yang – who was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2010 at age 24 – will make her German debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with Conlon and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester-Berlin in “The Age of Anxiety” on February 4. When she played “The Age of Anxiety” with Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia in 2010, the Chicago Tribune admired her for “being fully inside the music’s manic mood-swings – brooding deliberation giving way to exuberant flights of honky-tonk jazz.” The Chicago Classical Review concurred:
“James Conlon led a bracing, emotionally rich performance of Bernstein’s symphony Sunday night, which benefited immensely by having the gifted young Joyce Yang as keyboard protagonist. Silver Medal winner of the 2005 Van Cliburn Competition, the Korean pianist was fully in synch with Bernstein’s genre-crossing style, bringing deep, concentrated expression to the reflective episodes and a rollicking sassy swing to the jazzy syncopations of the Masque.”
Yang also undertook “The Age of Anxiety” in 2008 with the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. The New York Times singled out her playing, observing: “The standout was Joyce Yang, who gave a knockout performance of the alternately poetic, fiery, and occasionally jazz-tinged piano line.”
Foremost among Yang’s spring highlights will be performances in Australia, including Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House (March 14-16) and solo recitals of Bartók, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff at the Sydney Opera House (March 18) and the Melbourne Recital Centre (March 22). She has already made notable debuts this season with the Toronto and Detroit Symphony Orchestras under Peter Oundjian, and in March she continues her Rachmaninoff cycle with conductor Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, this time performing the Russian master’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (March 1-3).
Yang released Collage, her first solo album for Avie Records, in 2011. The recording ranges from Scarlatti, Schumann, and Debussy to contemporary works by Liebermann and Currier. Gramophone praised Yang’s “imaginative programming” and “beautifully atmospheric playing,” while American Record Guide called Collage “an outstanding first recording” and a “display of her wide-ranging talent.”
After her New York Philharmonic debut under Lorin Maazel at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in 2006, Yang performed on the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. She appears in the film In the Heart of Music, a documentary about the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and is a frequent guest on American Public Media’s nationally syndicated radio program Performance Today. A Steinway artist, Joyce Yang currently resides in New York City.
Joyce Yang: upcoming engagements
Jan 30
Cambridge, UK: West Road Concert Hall
Cambridge International Piano Series
Beethoven: Piano Sonata, Op. 31 No. 3
Chopin: Nocturnes, Op. 15 No. 1 and Op. 55 No. 1
Bartók: Out of Doors
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “The Little Island”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: Vocalise
Gershwin-Wild: “The Man I Love”
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat (rev. 1931)
Feb 4
Berlin, Germany: Philharmonie
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / James Conlon
Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety”
Feb 9
Fort Myers, FL: Mann Performing Arts Center
Southwest Florida Symphony / Josep Caballé-Domenech
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”
Feb 20
Mamaroneck, NY: Singer Concert Hall
With Augustin Hadelich, violin
Feb 22
New York, NY: Rockefeller University
With Augustin Hadelich, violin
Feb 24
Vancouver, Canada: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Vancouver Recital Society
With Augustin Hadelich, violin
March 1–3
Milwaukee, WI: Uihlein Hall
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra / Edo de Waart
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1
March 14–16
Sydney, Australia: Sydney Opera House
Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Charles Olivieri-Monroe
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
March 18
Sydney, Australia: Sydney Opera House
Sydney Symphony Presents
Bartók: Out of Doors
Schumann: Phantasiestücke, Op. 12
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “The Little Island”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: Vocalise
Gershwin-Wild: “The Man I Love”
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat (rev. 1931)
March 22
Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne Recital Centre
Bartók: Out of Doors
Schumann: Phantasiestücke, Op. 12
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “Dreams”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “The Little Island”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: Vocalise
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat (rev. 1931)
April 13
Corpus Christi, TX: Performing Arts Center at Texas A&M University
Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra / John Giordano
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
May 5 & 7
San Rafael, CA: Marin Center
Marin Symphony / Alasdair Neale
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
May 9
Red Oak, IA: Wilson Performing Arts Center
Bartók: Out of Doors
Schumann: Phantasiestücke, Op. 12
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “Dreams”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: “The Little Island”
Rachmaninoff-Wild: Vocalise
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat (rev. 1931)
May 11 & 12
Des Moines, IA: Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
Des Moines Symphony / Joseph Giunta
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
May 31
Birmingham, AL: Stephens Performing Arts Center, Jemison Concert Hall
Alabama Symphony Orchestra / Daniel Meyer
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
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© 21C Media Group, January 2013