The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) announced on Monday a collaboration with pianist Yuja Wang, the ensemble's new artistic partner. The 36-year-old Chinese artist will make his MCO debut leading the orchestra on an inaugural tour in January 2024.
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We are delighted to welcome Yuja Wang to the MCO family " says Orchestra General Director Michael Adick about the partnership. His passion for music and exceptional talent will undoubtedly inspire our musicians and our audience. We can't wait to see what kind of magic Yuja and the MCO will create together.
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The artist who is igniting the international stage is also delighted with this agreement: "I am honored and delighted to become the artistic partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The MCO is known for its innovative programming, distinctive sound and dynamic performance. I am happy to continue my exploration of conducting with the wonderful musicians of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, who I hope will create unforgettable musical experiences.
»This collaboration will, the MCO hopes, "bring a new perspective to our musical creation, focusing on projects where Yuja conducts the orchestra from the piano".
Born into a family of musicians in Beijing, Yuja Wang began playing the piano in China at the age of six. She left her native country for advanced training in Canada and then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Gary Graffman. Her teacher remembers in 2018 the singular talent of the young woman: "At the entrance audition, we immediately saw that she had a great talent. She came to a class with the score, without having worked much detail, he explained to the organization Living the classical life. But the following week, she knew the song and had integrated it perfectly. She was also able to play chamber music with any combination of instruments.
»In 2006, Yuja Wang made her debut with the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. That same year, she won the Gilmore Young Artist Award – awarded every two years to outstanding pianists – before even finishing her training at the Curtis Institute. But it was a year later, replacing Martha Argerich with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as soloist – at only 20 years old – that she broke through, in Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1. An exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon marked the beginning of his professional career in 2009.
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After a performance in 2011 at Carnegie Hall, the New York Times acclaimed her: "She has everything: speed, flexibility, piano passion, and nuance of interpretation." Yuja Wang then toured all over the world, with the Russian repertoire as her favorite field.
In the space of ten years, she recorded 14 records, including two Grammy nominations. In 2017, she was named Artist of the Year by Musical America, before receiving an Opus Klassik Prize in 2021 for her world premiere recording of John Adams' Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel.
The inaugural tour of its partnership with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra will begin in January and will feature works by Stravinsky, Janáček and Gershwin. Yuja Wang and the MCO intend to focus on the great composers of the twentieth century. Among other things, they will perform at the Philharmonie de Paris, where Yuja Wang is regularly applauded alongside conductor Klaus Mäkelä.
