Jian Wang (; born 1968) is a Chinese cellist. A soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher, he was the first Chinese musician to ever sign an exclusive contract with
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
.
Early life and education
Wang began to study the cello with his father when he was four. While a student at the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he was featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary film, ''
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China''. In 1981, at twelve years old, he made his professional debut playing the
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 with the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. In 1985, with Mr Stern's support, he entered the
Yale School of Music under a special programme where he studied with the renowned cellist
Aldo Parisot.
Career
As a soloist, Wang has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
,
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
,
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...
,
Cleveland Orchestra,
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
,
Philadelphia Orchestra,
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich,
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,
Mahler Chamber Orchestra,
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...
,
Orchestre de Paris
The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris.
History
In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...
,
Czech Philharmonic, and the
NHK Symphony Orchestra
The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
History
The orchestra was founded as the ''New Symphony Orchestr ...
. He has also collaborated with conductors such as
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...
,
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist.
Biography
Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...
,
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...
,
Riccardo Chailly,
Charles Dutoit,
Christoph Eschenbach,
Myung-whun Chung,
Alan Gilbert and
Gustavo Dudamel.
Wang is the first-ever Artist in Residence of the
National Centre for the Performing Arts in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. As a jury member, he has served on the jury of many of the most important competitions, including the
International Tchaikovsky Competition
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...
,
Queen Elisabeth Competition,
Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition and the
Carl Nielsen International Music Competition. Currently, he is a cello professor at the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music and occupies the International Chair in Cello at the
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He is also a member of the artistic committee for both the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the
Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra.
Wang has recorded numerous albums, his latest release being the
Elgar Cello Concerto with the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra and
Vladimir Ashkenazy. As an exclusive artist for
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
, he has recorded among others, the complete
Bach Cello Suites, the
Brahms Double Concerto with the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
,
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...
and
Gil Shaham, a Baroque Album with
Camerata Salzburg, the Haydn Cello Concertos with the
Gulbenkian Orchestra under
Muhai Tang, and chamber music by Brahms, Mozart and Schumann with
Maria João Pires and
Augustin Dumay
Augustin Dumay (born 17 January 1949) is a French violinist and conductor from Paris.
Biography
Dumay was invited as a soloist to appear with Yo-Yo Ma in Paris by Herbert von Karajan. Later on, he performed Béla Bartók's ''Second Concerto'' with ...
.
Wang plays on a 1622
Brothers Amati cello loaned to him by the family of the late Mr. Sau-Wing Lam.
Discography
* ''Presenting Jian Wang'' (
Delos
Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...
, 1992)
* ''Brahms - Piano Trios'' with
Maria João Pires and
Augustin Dumay
Augustin Dumay (born 17 January 1949) is a French violinist and conductor from Paris.
Biography
Dumay was invited as a soloist to appear with Yo-Yo Ma in Paris by Herbert von Karajan. Later on, he performed Béla Bartók's ''Second Concerto'' with ...
(
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
, 1995)
* ''Mozart - Piano Trios K.496 & K.502'' with Maria João Pires and Augustin Dumay (Deutsche Grammophon, 1997)
* ''Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 & 2'' with the
Gulbenkian Orchestra and
Muhai Tang (Deutsche Grammophon, 1999)
* ''Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time'' with
Gil Shaham,
Paul Meyer and
Myung-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon, 2001)
* ''Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto'' with the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
,
Gil Shaham and
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...
(Deutsche Grammophon, 2001)
* ''The Baroque Album'' with
Camerata Salzburg (Deutsche Grammophon, 2003)
* ''Bach: The Cello Suites'' (Deutsche Grammophon, 2005)
* ''Reverie'' with
Göran Söllscher (Deutsche Grammophon, 2007)
* ''Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - Cello Concerto'' with the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra and
Vladimir Ashkenazy (
ABC Classics
ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult conte ...
, 2011)
References
External links
Jian Wang - Askonas Holt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Jian
1968 births
Living people
Chinese classical cellists
20th-century Chinese musicians
Yale School of Music alumni
Musicians from Xi'an