Lang Lang: A Life So Far

 

Anyone who believed that Lang Lang’s fame would last only 15 minutes would have had to think twice when they saw the audience at New York’s Town Hall on October 20, 2008. 900 school children, some of whom had never seen a piano before, cheered wildly as three 8-year old scholarship winners performed.

Lang Lang played too, which was only appropriate, considering that the event celebrated the launch of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, dedicated to sponsoring study opportunities for a small number of talented young musicians aged 6-12 and encouraging all children’s love of music. “I believe that my career became possible only because of the opportunities I had as a child to audition for very distinguished musicians…” said Lang Lang. “I created the International Music Foundation as a way to pass on the precious gift of opportunity to the next generation of musicians and audiences.”

26-year old Lang Lang has been an international celebrity since his dramatic debut with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, substituting for an ailing André Watts. Word had already spread about the 17-year old prodigy—sitting in at the first rehearsal were Isaac Stern, Leon Fleisher, and Alicia de Larrocha. “We’ve heard so much about you, Lang Lang,” said de Larrocha.

It sometimes seems that everyone in the world knows about Lang Lang. He was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics. He performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, viewed by more than two billion people worldwide. He won a Golden Globe nomination and appeared at the 50 th annual Grammy Awards ceremony. He’s planning a tour with jazz great Herbie Hancock in the summer of 2009 that will include improvisation. It was surely no exaggeration when the New York Times described him as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet.”

The story about his charitable and educational activities is, to some, less familiar. Lang Lang was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 2004, the youngest in the history of that organization. Lang Lang raised $3.4 million in aid to the Red Cross for victims of the May, 2008 earthquake in Sichuan. The Steinway company has launched a special Lang Lang piano in China, specially designed to encourage music study in young people. Proceeds from the auction of the first Lang Lang piano went to benefit UNICEF’s programs for young people affected by AIDS in China’s Yunan Province.

I first saw Lang Lang the teacher during an earlier charitable benefit in Town Hall. The program included a duet between Lang Lang and his father, Lang Guoren, a distinguished performer on the erhu, a two-stringed instrument sometimes called “the Chinese violin.” Several pre-college pianists performed and then had a brief lesson with Lang Lang before a sold-out audience. They were not all prodigies, by any means—but it was fascinating to watch nonetheless. I was impressed both with Lang Lang’s kindness and his prescient comments. It was almost as if he had been teaching for all of his life.

I asked him about this when we met in Los Angeles, before another sold-out concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

 

Excerpts from the Interview

Many distinguished artists become involved in education later in their careers, when they are not touring so much. But for you, it has been an interest right from the beginning.

Well, first of all, I really enjoy teaching. I learn a lot from other musicians—and from students. Sometimes they are not what you expect. But it doesn’t matter. You can still learn from other people.

I believe that, no matter how old you are, or at what stage in your career, you have to think about building young audiences. By collaborating with those young kids, it gives me a good idea about what they are thinking and how they develop. It’s important to have a close connection between musicians and people who want to become musicians, or even those who just need to learn a little bit about music.

Music is all about inspiration. I have been very lucky to be inspired by so many great colleagues. I want to give back to the younger kids who need positive motivation. I know about the difference between an inspirational teacher and a non-inspirational teacher. It makes such a big deal!

 

How do you choose pieces?

You cannot always seek repertoire that only fits your personality. Classical music is like the whole world—there are pieces that are introverted, extroverted, percussive, or expressive. If it doesn’t fit your personality, you need to learn. I think a Beethoven slow movement does not fit anybody’s personality today, we are living in such a fast paced world. Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 is the same thing—it is very different than our life experience today.

I like to have a big range of repertoire. Every year is slightly different. One year I will focus on Eastern European pieces, and then the next year maybe works from the central European tradition. I focus on four composers each season. This year it is Chopin, Debussy, Bartók, and Schubert. Next year will be Beethoven, Albéniz, and Prokofiev—with one other to be added.

 

Do you have technical regimen you do on a regular basis?

The important thing is to practice lots of scales, very evenly. This is the way to start the morning! You can improve your technic in pieces this way. I play portions of pieces—Goldberg Variations, cadenzas from Beethoven concerti. I check the basic stuff—tonal evenness, making sure all the notes of the chords are sounding.

 

Tell me about the Lang Lang Foundation. You are doing auditions on YouTube.

Our first mission is to find really exceptional talent at a young age, from five to twelve. But we will consider some outstanding teenagers. We will listen to anyone young who is really great! And we want to improve the educational environment, cooperating with other organizations like Carnegie Hall. They will provide great teachers and a nice platform to perform. I want to work with as many great teachers as possible to expand.

The second area is to work with other musicians to create a music program in the public schools. We want to inspire the kids in a normal school. This may turn out to be the most important part, to create an interesting project for kid in school to experience classical music and learn to love it. It will be very challenging, and very necessary.

The third area is to raise money for humanitarian causes.

 

You are the youngest UNICEF Ambassador. How did that come about?

There is another UNICEF Ambassador from the world of classical music, the violinist Maxim Vengerov. I look up to him very much. This gave me the idea. And then a very good friend of mine, who works at the United Nations, came to my concert in 2004 and encouraged me to become involved with UNICEF.

I have a very good ability to communicate with kids. They seem to get really excited when they see me. It is not hard to do and I like to work with them. When I go to a poor country, where the kids do not have too many opportunities, I feel that I am bringing hope.

I don’t forget where I came from, how poor the people were and how lonely their lives can be. When I went to Tanzania, I heard similar stories. I saw a play that the children wrote about AIDS and could see that some of the kids acting in the play were already suffering from it. This was very touching to me. I remember my own dark times and can feel theirs. I want to help. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, told me before I left, “Lang Lang, your responsibility as an artist goes beyond music. You must serve people and peace.”

 

If you could say one thing to piano teachers, what would it be?

I hope every student comes away from lessons excited to learn. Every student is different and needs a different approach. If you inspire them to love music, even a little bit, you have accomplished a lot.

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