Biography

Lang Lang is a leading figure in classical music today. As a pianist, educator, and philanthropist, he has become one of the world’s most influential and dedicated ambassadors for the arts in the 21^st century. Equally at home performing for billions at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, the 2024 reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, and the 2026 Milan Olympic Opening Ceremony, or for just a few hundred children in public schools, he is a master communicator through music.

Heralded by The New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Lang Lang plays sold-out concerts all over the world. He has formed ongoing collaborations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, and Christoph Eschenbach, and performs with all the world’s top orchestras. Lang Lang is known for thinking outside the box and frequently steps into different musical worlds. Millions of viewers watched his performances at the Grammy Awards with Metallica, Pharrell Williams, and jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

For about a decade, Lang Lang has contributed to musical education worldwide. In 2008, he founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, aimed at cultivating tomorrow’s top pianists, championing music education at the forefront of technology, and building a young audience through live music experiences. In 2013, Lang Lang was designated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as a Messenger of Peace, focusing on global education.

Lang Lang started playing the piano at age three and gave his first public recital before the age of five. At age nine, he entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory and won First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at 13. He subsequently went to Philadelphia to study with legendary pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was 17 when his big break came, substituting for André Watts at the Gala of the Century, playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. He became an overnight sensation, and the invitations started to pour in.