Piano Phenomenon Lang Lang to Perform March 24 By Marci Janas '91
			At 21 years of age, he is younger than some Oberlin students. The phenomenal piano virtuoso Lang Lang, celebrated in all the music capitals of the world and acclaimed as one of the most exciting artists of our time, will present a program of works by Chopin, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, and Tan Dun in Finney Chapel Wednesday, March 24, at 8 p.m. Less than 200 tickets remain available. Call the Central Ticket Service box office at 440-775-8169 to purchase advance reserved-seat tickets, priced from $10 to $20. If any tickets remain the night of the concert, they will be an additional $3 when purchased at the door. WCPN's “Around Noon” will feature a live, phone interview with Lang Lang on Monday, March 22. The first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic and all “Big Five” American orchestras, Lang Lang played his first public recital at the age of five, after winning the Shenyang Piano Competition. He had been playing piano for two years. The story of his big break is the stuff of stage door legend. In 1999, when he was 17, he filled in at the last minute for an indisposed André Watts at the Ravinia Festival's Gala of the Century. As the unknown teenager began performing Tchaikovsky's first concerto with the Chicago Symphony, under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, he “let rip a thundering series of chords and the audience snapped to attention,” wrote Wynne Delacoma of the Chicago Sun-Times . “Stunned by his ferocious virtuosity and tenderhearted lyricism, they sprang to their feet in a roaring ovation after the final bars.” Lang Lang appears at Oberlin under the auspices of the Artist Recital Series with the support of the Friends of the Artist Recital Series. Media sponsorship is provided by Cleveland radio stations WCLV-104.9 FM and WCPN-90.3 ideastream (with WVIZ-TV25) and Northern Ohio Live magazine.
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