Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances, famously telling the New York Times “I firmly believe every program should have its own life, and be a representation of how I feel at the moment.”
Yuja was born into a musical family and began studying the piano at the age of six. 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 Orchestra. 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 albums. Her recordings have garnered multiple awards, including five Grammy nominations and her first Grammy win for Best Classical Instrumental Solo with her 2023 release of “The American Project”. For this she also won an Opus Klassik award in the Concerto category.
As The New York Times observed, Yuja “has made a career out of dazzling displays of virtuosity”, perhaps most notably when she recently teamed up with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra to perform all four of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerti – followed by his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – in a single concert. This was a feat never before attempted at Carnegie Hall, and one she pulled off with “both clarity and poetry… heft but not bombast, sentiment but not schmaltz” and then came back for more with encores.
The 2024/25 season includes a European and South America play-direct tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, where Yuja is Artist in Residence, as well as her return to the US where she is also midway through a residency with the New York Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, Yuja has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. She recently embarks on a highly anticipated international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with performances in world-class venues across North America and Europe, where she is once again able to showcase her flair, technical ability and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging program. Yuja will open Carnegie Hall’s 2025-2026 season, play-directing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1.
FEBRUARY 2025
