Joyce Yang – silver medalist in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition at age 19 and a 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient – launches
the Nashville Symphony’s 2013-14
season with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 under Giancarlo Guerrero (Sept 5-7).
Highlights of her coming season also include a five-city U.S. tour with
rising-star violinist Augustin Hadelich that begins January 3 in Dallas.
The duo will also collaborate with guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas in
“Tango, Song & Dance” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (April 21). Yang
– whose playing has been described as “poetic and sensitive” by the Washington Post and “vivid and
beautiful” by the New York Times – makes her Seattle solo
recital debut on February 19, and she plays Gershwin’s Concerto in F with four
orchestras, including March 7-9 with the Fort Worth Symphony under Miguel
Harth-Bedoya. March 8 is the release date for two new albums: Wild Dreams, her second solo disc for
Avie Records, a collection of Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Bartók and Hindemith; and
a Foghorn Classics pairing of the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets with the Alexander
String Quartet. In the spring, Yang concludes her multi-season Rachmaninoff
cycle with the Milwaukee Symphony under Edo de Waart (April
25-27), and returns to the Vancouver Symphony (May 10-12) for
Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety” – the vehicle for her German debut last season with
the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and for “a knockout performance” with the New York Philharmonic,
according to the New York Times. Yang caps her season
across the Atlantic with more Rachmaninoff under de Waart, this time with the Royal
Flemish Philharmonic (May 29-31).
The Independent of the U.K. was
full of praise for Yang’s first Avie album, Collage,
which paired two Scarlatti sonatas with new Scarlatti-inspired works by Grawemeyer
Prize-winning American composer Sebastian Currier, plus works by Debussy, Lowell
Liebermann, Schumann and Liszt. The paper’s reviewer declared the 2011 album “a
brave and challenging debut,” and Gramophone
praised Yang’s “beautifully atmospheric playing.” On Wild Dreams, her Avie
release due March 8, Yang performs Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Hindemith’s In einer Nacht, Bartók’s Out
of Doors suite, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2, and several Rachmaninoff
songs arranged for solo piano by Earl Wild. Reviewing Yang’s recital this past
spring at the Sydney Opera House – in which the program mirrored that of Wild Dreams – the Australian offered
glowing praise:
The strongest impression
left by young South Korea-born pianist Joyce Yang’s recital was a dramatic
sense of musical contrast. Sustaining a
rich, full-bodied tone and propulsive drive, Yang captured the volatile
nature and shimmering textures of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata while the
delicate, reflective accounts of Earl Wild’s transcriptions of three
Rachmaninoff songs illustrated her sensitive side. In Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Yang’s mixture of cantabile phrasing, ferociously fast cascade of notes
and moments of playfulness paid tribute to the composer’s self-described
Eusebius-Florestan (introverted-extroverted) dual personality. Bartók’s Out of Doors suite featured the most
violent contrasts of all.
There was more acclaim from the Dallas
Morning News when Yang performed Bartók’s Out of Doors in Texas earlier this year:
“Yang
opened the program with an authoritative,
atmospheric and, where called for, virtuosic account of Bartók’s Out of Doors suite. From the pounding
rhythms of ‘With Drums and Pipes’ through the shimmers, peeps and twitters of
‘The Night’s Music’ to the exuberant gallop of ‘The Chase,’ this was the
evening’s high point.” As a synesthete who “sees” music in shapes and colors, Yang
describes how she envisions the score for the opening measures of “The Night’s
Music,” the fourth movement from Bartók’s suite, in a YouTube video.
Yang has enjoyed plaudits across the country and around the world as a
soloist in Rachmaninoff’s works for piano and orchestra. Reviewing last
spring’s performance of the Concerto No. 1 in her multi-season survey of the
composer’s four piano concertos with the Milwaukee Symphony and conductor Edo
de Waart, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
wrote, “Yang brought a captivating mix of tremendous power
and absolute clarity to her interpretation. … More than just giving a masterful display of piano technique, Yang
brought vivid colors to her sound and crafted beautifully sculpted phrases.”
In addition to playing Rachmaninoff concertos in Milwaukee, Jacksonville,
Wichita, Melbourne, and with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic in Belgium, the
pianist performs the composer’s Rhapsody
on a Theme of Paganini in a homecoming concert in Korea on September 13,
with the Seoul Philharmonic under Kwamé Ryan. After her performance of the work at the Aspen
Music Festival in July, the Aspen Times proclaimed,
“Yang lavished jaw-dropping technique
and tremendous flair on this music, diving
deep into its ebb and flow to produce a stellar performance.”
Yang has thrilled listeners
with her touch in Gershwin’s music as well. Reviewing a Cliburn Concert last
year, the Dallas Morning News said, “Best
of all may have been the encore, Gershwin’s ‘The Man I Love,’ in a delicious
Earl Wild arrangement that sounded like a cross between Scriabin and Debussy. Yang played it to the hilt.” She performs
as soloist in Gershwin’s Concerto in F in Greensburg, PA (Feb 1), Rochester, NY (Feb 6,
8), Forth Worth, TX (March 7-9) and Springfield, MA (April 12).
Along with several solo
recitals in the U.S. this season, Yang will also play chamber music with the
Alexander String Quartet and the Modigliani Quartet. “As brilliant as her solo career may be, she is one
of the great chamber music players of her generation," stated TheaterJones. On March 8, Foghorn
Classics will release a disc of the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets with Yang
and the Alexander Quartet. “In a world of dime-store piano
virtuosi, all with impeccable technique,” continued TheaterJones, “she seems like something out of Tiffany's special collection.”
Joyce Yang: 2013-14 engagements
Sep 5, 6, 7
Nashville, TN
Nashville Symphony
Orchestra / Giancarlo Guerrero
Prokofiev: Piano
Concerto No. 3
Sep 13
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Philharmonic
Orchestra / Kwamé
Ryan
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Sep 28
Richmond, VA
Virginia Commonwealth
University
Singleton Performing
Arts Center
Recital (Masterclass
Sep 27)
Oct 3, 4, 5
Raleigh, NC
North Carolina
Symphony / Grant
Llewellyn
Franck: Symphonic
Variations
De Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Oct 20
Washington, DC
JCC of Greater
Washington
Kreeger Auditorium
Recital
Oct 26, 27
Wichita, KS
Wichita Symphony /
Daniel Hege
Rachmaninoff: Piano
Concerto No. 3
Nov 3
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis-OSU Piano
International
LaSells Stewart Center
Recital
Nov 10
San Francisco, CA
Kohl Mansion
With Alexander String
Quartet
Nov 12
Cleveland, TN
Lee University, Dixon
Center
Recital
Nov 14
Montgomery, AL
Montgomery Chamber
Music Society
Wilson Auditorium,
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Brahms:
Piano Quintet in F minor
With the Modigliani
Quartet
Nov 15
Asheville, NC
Asheville Chamber
Music Series
Mozart: Piano Quartet
in G Minor
With the Modigliani
Quartet
Dec 12, 13, 14
Costa Mesa, CA
Pacific Symphony
Orchestra / Carl St. Clair
Tchaikovsky:
Piano Concerto No. 1
Jan 3, 2014
Dallas, TX
Chamber Music
International
Recital with Augustin
Hadelich, violin
Jan 5
Los Angeles, CA
Clark Art Institute at
UCLA
Recital with Augustin
Hadelich, violin
Jan 11, 12
Sarasota, FL
Artist Series of
Sarasota
Recital with Augustin
Hadelich
Jan 13 - 23
Hong Kong
Hong Kong International
Chamber Music Festival
Jan 25
Palm Desert, CA
International
Classical Concerts of the Desert
Recital
Feb 1
Greensburg, PA
Westmoreland Symphony
/ Daniel Meyer
Gershwin: Concerto in
F
Feb 6, 8
Rochester, NY
Rochester
Philharmonic / Michael Morgan
Gershwin: Concerto in
F
Feb 13
Aspen, CO
Aspen Music Festival
and School Winter series
Harris Concert Hall
Recital
Feb 15
Palm Desert, CA
International
Classical Concerts of the Desert
Recital with Augustin
Hadelich, violin
Feb 19
Seattle, WA
Meany Hall for the
Performing Arts
Recital
Feb 25
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Orquestra
Filharmônica de Mina Gerais
Mozart: Piano Concerto
in C minor, K. 491
March 7, 8, 9:
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra / Miguel
Harth-Bedoya
Gershwin: Concerto in
F
March 8
Avie CD release: Wild Dreams
Rachmaninoff/arr. Wild: “Dreams,” “The Little
Island,” “Vocalise”
Hindemith: In
einer Nacht
Bartók: Out
of Doors
Schumann: Fantasiestücke
Rachmaninoff: Piano
Sonata No. 2
March 8
Foghorn Classics CD release
Brahms: Piano Quintet
in F minor
Schumann: Piano
Quintet in E-flat major
With the Alexander
String Quartet
March 13, 14, 15
Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville Symphony
Orchestra / Courtney Lewis
Rachmaninoff: Piano
Concerto No. 3
March 27, 28, 29
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra / Diego Matheuz
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
April 12
Springfield, MA
Springfield Symphony
Orchestra / Kevin
Rhodes
Gershwin: Concerto in
F
April 21
Washington DC
The Kennedy Center, Terrace
Theater
“Tango, Song, and Dance” Project
With Augustin
Hadelich, violin; Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, guitar
April 25, 26, 27
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra / Edo de Waart
Rachmaninoff: Piano
Concerto No. 4
(Conclusion of Rachmaninoff cycle)
May 1, 3, 4
Houston, TX
Houston Symphony / Thomas Dausgaard
Beethoven: “Triple”
Concerto
With Frank Huang,
violin; Brinton Smith, cello
May 2
Houston, TX
Woodlands Salon Series
Recital
May 10, 11, 12
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver
Symphony / Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety”
May 29, 30, 31
Antwerp, Belgium
Royal Flemish
Philharmonic / Edo de Waart
Rachmaninoff:
Piano Concerto No. 2
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