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Yuja Wang

The American Project

Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: March 24, 2023

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Yuja Wang, World-Class Pianist | British Vogue & Rolex
1 Tilson Thomas: You Come Here Often? 04:34  
2 Teddy Abrams: Piano Concerto: I. Overture. Swing 02:25  
3 Piano Concerto: II. Cadenza I 05:30  
4 Piano Concerto: III. Exposition 02:40  
5 Piano Concerto: IV. Orchestra Break 00:47  
6 Piano Concerto: V. Exploration 04:56  
7 Piano Concerto: VI. Cadenza II 04:51  
8 Piano Concerto: VII. Relaxed 02:30  
9 Piano Concerto: VIII. Solos 05:13  
10 Piano Concerto: IX. Cadenza III 03:39  
11 Piano Concerto: X. Return. Swing 02:11  
12 Piano Concerto: XI. Cadenza IV & Coda 02:44  
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Yuja Wang gives a dazzling solo performance in the world premiere recording of a major new work specially written for her by her friend Teddy Abrams. Although originally conceived as a short companion composition to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Abrams’ Piano Concerto blossomed to become a 35-minute standalone showpiece. Celebrating the richness of America’s musical culture and the sheer depth and breadth of Yuja Wang’s virtuosity, the work now features on Yuja Wang · The American Project. Also included on the album is You Come Here Often?, created for the star pianist by another close friend, Michael Tilson Thomas. Both were recorded live with the Louisville Orchestra, conducted by Abrams, its Music Director. Yuja Wang · The American Project is set for digital and physical release by Deutsche Grammophon today.

Teddy Abrams and Yuja Wang met during their student days at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, one of the world’s leading conservatoires. The highly versatile Abrams – pianist, clarinettist, composer and conductor – and the then rising-star pianist became friends at the time, after he volunteered to accompany her in piano-only play-throughs of the standard concerto repertoire. Following his appointment as Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra in 2014, he began writing large-scale works for its musicians. “It was,” he recalls, “the beginning of a really special relationship that we have retained to this day.”

  • Yuja Wang w/Dudamel, LAPhil - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos, Paganini Rhapsody is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: September 14, 2023 12:00 AM
    Los Angeles, the city in which Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) spent the last few months of his life, played host to an exceptional festival of music last February. As part of this year’s Rachmaninoff 150 celebrations, Yuja Wang joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel over two consecutive weekends to perform all four of the composer’s piano concertos and the R...
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  • NPR #Now Playing - Yuja Wang 'You Come Here Often?'
    Posted At: March 9, 2023 12:00 AM
    Yuja Wang gives a dazzling solo performance in the world premiere recording of a major new work specially written for her by her friend Teddy Abrams. Although originally conceived as a short companion composition to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Abrams’ Piano Concerto blossomed to become a 35-minute standalone showpiece. Celebrating the richness of America’s musical culture and the sheer depth and breadth of...
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  • Yuja Wang is a vessel of emotion from composer to audience in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 wLA Phil / The Poly Post
    Posted At: February 26, 2023 12:00 AM
    The Poly Post - Charlize Althea Garcia writes….Yuja Wang performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Feb. 11. Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto is one of the most popular pieces that made its way to the pop music and cinematic world, performed by one of the most prominent pianists and conductor of our time.  Wang performed all Rachmaninoff’s...
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  • Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital. Fabulous piano sound to capture large-hall, high-impact playing / GRAMOPHONE
    Posted At: October 28, 2022 12:00 AM
    Internationally-acclaimed pianist, Yuja Wang released her new album of solo works, The Berlin Recital via Deutsche Grammophone - a survey of landmark works by the late-romantic era and 20th century composers: Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Ligeti and Prokofiev. In anticipation of the full recital release, a digital-only EP of Encores is available today. The album was recorded live in Berlin, as ...
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  • Yuja Wang turns in a dazzling performance with S.F. Symphony / San Francisco Chronicle
    Posted At: January 28, 2022 12:00 AM
    The San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman writes…One of the great truths about classical music, often underappreciated both by newbies and by its most ponderous superfans, is this: It’s showbiz, baby!Michael Tilson Thomas has always understood, deep in his bones, the importance of wowing the crowd — and even more crucially, that there’s no conflict between razzle-dazzle and artistic seriousness. Franz Lis...
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  • Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital makes Gramophone 'Recordings of the Year 2019'
    Posted At: December 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    It's become a Gramophone institution, our annual Recordings of the Year. The past 12 months, or 13 issues in Gramophone's calendar, have once again brought their fair share of stunning recordings.  Internationally-acclaimed pianist, Yuja Wang released her new album of solo works, The Berlin Recital, on November 23 2019 on Deutsche Grammophonon - a survey of landmark works by the late-romanti...
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  • Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital selected for 2020 GRAMMY nomination
    Posted At: November 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital selected for 2019 GRAMMY nomination in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. Internationally-acclaimed pianist, Yuja Wang's release of solo works, The Berlin Recital via Deutsche Grammophonon is a survey of landmark works by the late-romantic era and 20th century composers: Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Ligeti and Prokofiev. In anticipation of the f...
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  • Yuja Wang dazzles in pounding new John Adams concerto / Washington Post
    Posted At: March 9, 2019 12:00 AM

    There were only two moments of true, reflective stillness during last night's Los Angeles Philharmonic program at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. One occurred when pianist Yuja Wang held the audience spellbound with her diaphanous reading of John Adams's "China Gates" for solo piano, distilling every ounce of neoimpressionist perfume from this early-career work. She played this piece as an encore after the...
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  • Yuja Wang teams with Gustavo Dudamel, and the LA Phil for premiere of John Adams's 'Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?' / BroadwayWorld
    Posted At: February 8, 2019 12:00 AM

    Pianist Yuja Wang, Gustavo Dudamel, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic form a formidable all-star team to premiere John Adams's latest piano concerto, Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? After the world premiere on March 7, the orchestra and pianist take the new work on tour to Asia and Europe, as well as to New York in November. On March 7-10, John Adams's much-anticipated piano concerto M...
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  • Yuja Wang set for 'Chamber Music Sedona' / Sedona.biz
    Posted At: January 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Chamber Music Sedona is honored to present a special performance featuring the world-renowned piano phenomenon Yuja Wang, alongside the "superb young soloist" (New Yorker) and our very own Artistic Director, cellist Nicholas Canellakis. Taking place at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Sunday, March 24, 2019, at 2:30 pm, they will play a program of virtuosic and fiery duos by the great romantics Rachm...
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  • Yuja Wang continues her succession of critically acclaimed recordings on The Berlin Recital / Staccatofy
    Posted At: January 8, 2019 12:00 AM

    Yuja Wang is a Beijing-born pianist that is awe inspiring listeners with her charismatic artistry and captivating audiences with her stage presence. She received advanced training in Canada and at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Wang's international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Her dazzling perfor...
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  • Yuja Wang's 'Berlin Recital' is a vivid exercise in contrasting approaches / The Rehearsal Studio
    Posted At: December 10, 2018 12:00 AM

    At the end of last month, Deutsche Grammophon released its latest recording of Chinese pianist Yuja Wang. Entitled The Berlin Recital, the album is a live recording of a solo recital that Wang gave in the Kammermusiksall (chamber music hall) of the Berliner Philharmonie this past June. The program consisted entirely of twentieth-century compositions by three major Russian composers, four short pieces by ...
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  • Yuja Wang has a thing for Bartok, and gets her first Grammy nomination / KPCC
    Posted At: December 10, 2018 12:00 AM

    Thirty one-year-old piano virtuoso Yuja Wang was born in China and was a stand-out talent from a very young age. She studied in Canada and the United States and today lives, more or less, in New York - though she's in such demand that she's rarely home at all. Back in 2017, John Horn spoke with her at Disney Hall as she was preparing for an engagement with Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic. T...
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  • Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital is the WFMT 'Featured New Release'
    Posted At: December 10, 2018 12:00 AM

    This live recording from the Berlin Philharmonie's Chamber Music Hall showcases Yuja Wang's exceptional artistry, technical perfection, and boundless imagination. The thrilling recital program features three late-Romantic and 20th-century Russian composers. It is compelling repertoire that strikes a chord with Wang's impassioned temperament and has accompanied her since the start of her career. Rounding ...
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  • Vienna Philharmonic and Yuja Wang mark 100 years since end of Great War / euronews
    Posted At: November 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    The world famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra commemorated the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War with a symbolic "Concert for Peace" during a memorable performance at the Royal Opera House at the Palace of Versailles Maestro Franz Welser-Möst conceived the programme, a musical journey with devastation, hope and contemplation. The conductor said: "I think these days of commemoration...
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  • Yuja Wang has no intention of slowing down / Vogue
    Posted At: August 14, 2018 12:00 AM

    Yuja Wang remembers when she first fell in love with classical music. It was as a very young child, watching her mother, a dancer, in rehearsals for Swan Lake. "I was blown away by its beauty," the Beijing-born musician says of hearing Tchaikovsky's compositions. A few years later, aged six, she began playing the piano. Wang, now a world-renowned pianist, is revered by fellow musicians, critics and a...
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  • On the road with Yuja Wang / Deutsche Welle
    Posted At: March 25, 2018 12:00 AM

    Yuja Wang draws attention worldwide. Born in Beijing in 1987, the musician has spent most of her life at the piano. She has already worked with some of the world's best conductors. In 2011 she won the ECHO Klassik award, in 2016 she performed Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata in New York's Carnegie Hall. Her piano-playing is impressive - as is her stage presence. Yuja Wang is provokingly different. Her ap...
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  • ABC: Classic FM features Yuja Wang
    Posted At: January 1, 2018 12:00 AM

    One of the world's most sought-after pianists is the 30-year Yuja Wang. Following her 2015 performances with the SSO and recital, Yuja Wang was described by The Australian classical music reviewer Murray Black as a "top-class virtuoso."  p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; min-height: 13.0px} The ...
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  • Yo-Yo Ma & Yuja Wang make LATimes: 2017 - arts pictures of the year
    Posted At: December 31, 2017 12:00 AM

    In the arts world, 2017 was a year of smooth moves - including all of the emotions, poses and personalities richly captured by the cameras of Times photographers. They froze in time the animated baton and seemingly infinite expressions of Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl. They clicked with Kyle Abraham, the dance troupe leader who struck a curious pose against an E...
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  • Yuja Wang opens Louisville Orchestra's 80th season / The Voice Tribune
    Posted At: September 21, 2017 12:00 AM

    The great classical soloists have always enjoyed celebrity, from Niccolo Paganini, the touring virtuoso, to Enrico Caruso, the first star signed by RCA records, to Leonard Bernstein, who brought classical music to Americans via television. The same goes for modern stars such as Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell, Yo Yo Ma and the late Jacqueline du Pre, who shared something beyond fame with her fans. They are hero...
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  • Yuja Wang & CSO attack Brahms concerto at Ravinia / Chicago Tribune review
    Posted At: July 12, 2017 12:00 AM

    This year's Chicago Symphony Orchestra six-week residencies at Ravinia began on Tuesday night July 11 with French conductor Lionel Bringuier and the Chinese piano superstar Yuja Wang, both making their Ravinia debuts. Both turned in strong performances several degrees above the summer fest norm. And so, for its part, did the orchestra, even if the humidity at times took a minor toll on intonation and...
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  • Yuja Wang is a transcendent talent / Los Angeles Times
    Posted At: June 17, 2017 12:00 AM

    Mark Swed says Yuja Wang is "on the path to becoming one of the world's most important pianists" ["A Thrilling Adventure," June 5]. I'd go further. I've been through Horowitz, Rubinstein, Van Cliburn, Schnabel. I think Yuja Wang is spectacular beyond all of them. Seeing her perform the Bartok concertos this week and, last year, the Ravel G Major and the Gershwin Rhapsody, convinced me that she is beyond ...
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  • Watch Yuja Wang's tribute to Martha Argerich at Kennedy Center Honors / MSN
    Posted At: December 20, 2016 12:00 AM

    Classical pianist Yuja Wang paid tribute to 39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors honoree Martha Argerich with a special performance of "Piazzolla Grand Tango." Celebrating the lifetime artistic achievement of the Argentine pianist, Argerich, who just celebrated her 75th birthday, is known for her thrilling performances, as well as her habit for canceling appearances. She was a identified as a child pro...
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  • 3 Crossover Artists get Orange County Register Review
    Posted At: December 18, 2015 12:00 AM

    Here's Yuja Wang again, not in a little red dress, but fashionable all the same, in a halter-style top and long flowing skirt, the midriff bare, a come-hither look on her face. "YUJA," it says, in big letters across the front of the album. This is the way she's going to be sold, at least for a while, the sex kitten of classical music. We ought to take her seriously, though. Yo-Yo Ma's lat...
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  • Yuja Wang - Ravel Piano Concertos / WRTI: Featured release for 2015
    Posted At: December 3, 2015 12:00 AM

    WRTI's Mark Pinto, host of the Classical New Releases show, fills you in on the latest and greatest classical music CDs every Saturday at 5 pm. Here are five newly released recordings he recommends. The wonder that is pianist Yuja Wang is on amazing display in her blazing new recording of the Ravel concertos for one and two hands.  In the G Major concerto, Wang is particularly adroit in the ...
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  • Yuja Wang: Ravel Concertos / WFMT: New Release of the Week
    Posted At: November 1, 2015 12:00 AM

    Pianist Yuja Wang says Ravel's music "has the exactness of a Swiss clock mechanism, but layered on top of that, it is about pleasure, pure and simple." Ravel's two piano concertos illustrate her point, as heard on Wang's new album. It also features the original solo version of Fauré's Ballade. Wang recorded the concertos with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the ensemble with which s...
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