Biography
Piano
Yuja Wang
Pianist YUJA WANG is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s leading conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but for her spontaneous and lively performances.
Ms. Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’s Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Wang made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She was also the featured artist in the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010–11 Project San Francisco initiative. She can be heard on the San Francisco Symphony’s Masterpieces in Miniature album on SFS Media performing the Scherzo from Henry Litolff’s Concerto symphonique No. 4.
In October 2021, Ms. Wang performed at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala, following its historic 572 days of closure. In 2021–22 she also performed duo recitals with violinist Leonidas Kavakos; embarked on an international recital tour to North America, Europe, and Asia; and served as artist-in-residence for the Czech Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic.
(9/2022)
Ms. Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’s Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Wang made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She was also the featured artist in the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010–11 Project San Francisco initiative. She can be heard on the San Francisco Symphony’s Masterpieces in Miniature album on SFS Media performing the Scherzo from Henry Litolff’s Concerto symphonique No. 4.
In October 2021, Ms. Wang performed at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala, following its historic 572 days of closure. In 2021–22 she also performed duo recitals with violinist Leonidas Kavakos; embarked on an international recital tour to North America, Europe, and Asia; and served as artist-in-residence for the Czech Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic.
(9/2022)
