Artists

Hailed by The New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet”, Lang Lang has long fascinated classical audiences and critics alike with performances charged with breathtaking virtuosity, tonal refinement and dramatic intensity. Yet the pianist’s irresistible artistry, propelled by his passionate belief in music’s transforming power and served by his innate skills as a communicator, has reached far beyond the concert hall. Time magazine has ranked him among the world’s 100 most influential people. Lang’s pianism evokes an earlier age of virtuoso performance through its emphasis on individuality and imagination. He invites listeners to become fully immersed in a world of potent emotions and lyrical shadings. “Music requires transformation: you share your thoughts with others, using your fingers, your brain,” observed Lang Lang in an interview with Die Zeit. “The piano alone does nothing; it’s a robot without a soul. There are performances in which the pianist plays everything correctly, yet they leave one cold. And then there are performances that tell you a story. The music comes in waves – it is warm and cold; it has depth and different levels.” Millions have been inspired by Lang Lang’s example to learn a musical instrument and discover new worlds of self-expression and understanding. The phenomenon, known as the “Lang Lang Effect”, has been exported worldwide with help from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, the charitable organisation which he founded in 2008. For many years he has worked tirelessly to promote education, notably as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and, since 2013, as a UN Messenger of Peace.