Yuja Wang

Season Artist in Residence

The performance of pianist Yuja Wang is accompanied by applause from the audience and superlatives by music critics. Her captivating stage presence and charisma have won the hearts of audiences around the world. We are delighted to welcome her as our Artist in Residence in the 2021/2022 season.

Through residencies, the Czech Philharmonic can develop a closer relationship and deeper collaboration with an exceptional world-renowned artist who can appear in various settings in front of the Prague audience, be it as a soloist with the orchestra in subscription or non-subscription concerts, as a chamber player in solo recitals or with other musicians. Last but not least, the Artist in Residence can join the orchestra on tour to perform in prestigious concert halls around the world. Yuja Wang will play three programmes in the Rudolfinum and we are hoping that you will enjoy them with us. Our audiences in Vienna, Hamburg and London will be pleased to hear that Yuja will join the orchestra on the spring European tour.

Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances, famously telling the New York Times.

“I firmly believe every program should have its own life, and be a representation of how I feel at the moment”. This skill and charisma was recently demonstrated in her performance of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala in October 2021, following its historic 572 days of closure.

Yuja was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

As a chamber musician, Yuja has developed long lasting partnerships with several leading artists, notably violinist Leonidas Kavakos, with whom she has recorded the complete Brahms violin sonatas and will be performing duo recitals in America in the Autumn. In 2022, Yuja embarks on a highly-anticipated international recital tour, which sees her perform in world-class venues across North America, Europe and Asia, astounding audiences once more with her flair, technical ability and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging programme to include Bach, Beethoven and Schoenberg.