YANG, TIANWA (b 1987 )

“…the 21-year-old Yang had announced herself as the most important new violinist to come on the scene in many a year…” says the Detroit News in October 2008 after Tianwa Yang’s debut with the Detroit Symphony under the baton of Günther Herbig. In May 2009, her debut with the Seattle Symphony and Gerard Schwarz excited such comments from the Seattle Times as “ this young woman could outplay the devil…Yang’s splash on our coast was stunning…( she ) played with fire...a perfect platform for her talents”.  In January 2009, of her debut Frankfurt recital,  the Frankfurter Allgemeine declared her to be “particularly conspicuous not only due to her controlled, barely fallible technique, her unrestrained desire for expression, and her willingness to take great risks, but also due to the depth of her emotional expression and the rich colours of her sound”. In concert and recital Ms Yang is garnering unprecedented international reviews as she takes the stage as one of the most impressive young violinists of today.

Born in Beijing, she started studying the violin at the age of four, soon winning six out of the seven violin competitions she entered. At the age of ten she was accepted by Professor Lin Yaoji at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, and by the following year media in Hong Kong described her as “A Pride of China”. Following her performance at the 1999 Beijing Music Festival, Isaac Stern invited her to study with him in the USA. In 2000, at the age of 13, she recorded the 24 Caprices of Paganini, which makes her the youngest interpreter of these virtuosic works worldwide.

In 2001 she debuted in Europe performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Czech Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Prague. In 2003, she played Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in the Munich National Theater with the orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper, followed by recitals in Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Vienna.  In the same year Ms Yang was awarded a special two-year scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study chamber music in Germany.

In 2004, she commenced her collaboration with Naxos, recording the first two volumes [Naxos 8.557767, 8.570192] of the complete works of Sarasate that will become a 7-CD complete collection. She was awarded the Volkswagen Foundation prize “Star of Tomorrow” by Seiji Ozawa and the “PRIX MONTBLANC 2006”. 2006 was also the year of the first of her live concert broadcasts—at the Montpellier Festival by Radio France and at the Schwetzingen Festival by the SWR, Stuttgart. In 2007, Ms Yang was invited to perform at the Naxos 20 Year Anniversary Concert [Naxos 2.110227] at Wigmore Hall in London.

During her 2007/2008 season, Ms Yang gave her North American debut as part of the Virginia Arts Festival with the Virginia Symphony in addition to her debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, which was broadcast live by Deutschland Radio. She offered recitals in Switzerland and France, and enjoyed an extensive tour of Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto that took her to Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Stuttgart, Munich, Hannover, Nuremberg, Karlsruhe and Wiesbaden.

Highlights in her upcoming seasons include debuts the Nashville Symphony and Eastern Music Festival in North America; debuts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK; a second tour of Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, further concerts with the Navarre Symphony Orchestra, Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, Warsaw Philharmonic, and at the Hong Kong Chamber Music Festival. She will expand her discography with further albums for Naxos.

Ms Yang currently works with esteemed artists Joerg-Wolfgang Jahn and Rainer Kussmaul, and with Anner Bylsma for Baroque music.

For more information, please visit www.tianwayang.com.

Upcoming Engagements

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
NAXOS 20TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT (NTSC)	2.110227
SARASATE, P. de: Violin and Orchestra Music, Vol. 1 (Tianwa Yang, Navarre Symphony, Martinez-Izquierdo)	8.572191
SARASATE, P. de: Violin and Piano Music, Vol. 1 (Tianwa Yang)	8.557767
SARASATE, P. de: Violin and Piano Music, Vol. 2 (Tianwa Yang)	8.570192