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Topic: Lang Lang -- a teacher?  (Read 5717 times)

Offline SteinwayTony

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Lang Lang -- a teacher?
on: January 13, 2005, 04:16:14 PM
This article was in our county paper this morning.  Just to give you a little background, I live in Oakland County in southeastern Michigan.  Oakland County has constantly been battling with a county in California for the title of the richest county per capita in the country.  It's quite a ritzy area, which makes competition and pressure in the piano scene especially stiff.

Here's the article:

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By DAVE GROVES
Of The Daily Oakland Press

As 9-year-old Heather Shen skillfully recited a piece on the grand piano before her, a pair of diligent eyes revealed only sheer concentration.
Not even the din of dozens of lively conversations bubbling around her interrupted the melodic flow being narrated by 10 astutely monitored fingers.

Then, as a third hand fell next to hers and embellished the spirited performance, an unbridled smile widened across the gifted child's face.

Without missing a note, Heather reveled in sharing the keyboard with internationally lauded pianist Lang Lang.

"She will remember this," said Isabella Vilensky, a piano teacher of 38 years who anxiously boasts about her young student's ability.

"She will remember (Lang Lang's) joy in music. That is the most exciting thing about him - his joy in playing music."

Heather and her teacher were among roughly 60 Bloomfield Hills parents, children and other music lovers who gathered at the home of Wei Shen to enjoy an intimate evening with China's fastest rising star in classical music.

Delighted to host him for the second time, Wei Shen said she hoped only that the youngsters who'd came to visit understood how sincerely Lang Lang hoped to inspire them to explore music.

"They have a true role model to look up to," Shen said. "I want them to realize that music has everything to do with their own personal growth."

As Lang Lang animatedly performed a rendition of Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" - which he jokingly referred to as "the Tom and Jerry" piece - a dozen children clamored around the grand piano to watch him play.

"When he finished playing, my older daughter, Lauren ran up to me and said, 'Oh my gosh, Mom,' " said Bloomfield Hills resident Ruth Sklarsky.

"She said, 'It's like my fastest playing fast forwarded about 100 times.' "

Standing 15 feet away, Sklarsky herself relished the opportunity to see Lang Lang play.

"It's a soulful experience to see such a fine artist play, and to give so much to a community through something like this."

In town to perform with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the 22-year-old concert pianist said he is gratified to see children so enthralled about classical music.

"I just love these kids. They're so wonderful and so passionate about music," Lang Lang said.

"I hope they will always remember that music has a special connection with them. There are so many feelings they can have and this connection is a way they can express it to the world."

Andover High School junior and pianist Christopher Wee said he was inspired by the Wednesday night visit.

"We lack the idols in piano that I think there used to be in the past, but (Lang Lang) is a rising star," Wee said.

"I've seen a lot of good pianists, but he is the most phenomenal I've ever seen. I think that kind of thing keeps me motivated to keep trying to do better."

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Get this.  My old teacher gave me a call this morning and told me that Lang Lang would be giving a master class (yes, that's right, teaching it) at a local college on Saturday morning.

"Really?"  I responded to her.  "He's only 22!"

I'm so curious about what he has to say while he teaches...not necessarily in a good way but I'm not sure.  It's a shame that I'm flying back to NYC Saturday morning! 

I knew he was in town to play Prokofiev 3 with the Detroit Symphony, but I never suspected he would be giving masterclasses.

Offline tibidi

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Re: Lang Lang -- a teacher?
Reply #1 on: January 13, 2005, 04:45:57 PM
Good exposure for Lang Lang again. I wonder how he managed to get so much news coverage for himself and receiving so much publicity?
 

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