Bio
Beijing-born Tianwa Yang started the violin at the age of four and began what was to be a meteoric rise, winning 6 of the first 7 violin competitions she entered. In 1997, at the age of only ten, she was accepted by Professor Lin Yaoji at the Central Conseveratory of Music in Beijing, and by the age of eleven was already receiving invitations for solo recitals and orchestral concerts. The media in Hong Kong described her as “the pride of China.” Isaac Stern invited her to the United States after hearing her perform at the Beijing Music Festival in 1999. And Seiji Ozawa awarded her the Volkswagen Foundation prize "Star of Tomorrow" in 2004.
In October 2008 Tianwa Yang appeared with a major American symphony orchestra (Detroit Symphony conducted by Günther Herbig) for the first time, and garnered unprecedented critical acclaim. Lawrence B. Johnson, writing in the Detroit News said:
“I swear - in two passes of the bow [Tianwa Yang] changed my perception of the landscape of violin playing in the world today.
"By the time she had finished her grand-scaled, probing and drop-dead gorgeous turn through Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, the 21-year-old Yang had announced herself as the most important new violinist to come on the scene in many a year."
“What impressed me more than her impeccable technique or lustrous sound was the expressive, highly personal and intelligent way [this supreme musician] applied those qualities.”
This praise was repeated in Seattle, where her debut was hailed by John Sutherland, writing in the Seattle Times:
This … program included … foremost, the introduction of an extraordinary violinist...this young woman could outplay the devil.
Yang's splash on our coast was stunning…Yang played with fire, as the orchestra listened in admiration.
The crowd, the orchestra and Maestro Gerard Schwarz himself insisted on her playing an encore afterward, and she graciously obliged with the final movement from Ysaye's Sonata No. 4.
...the major buzz in the departing crowd remained the introduction of Tianwa Yang.
Even her recordings come in for effusive praise. Edith Eisler, writing in Strings Magazine, reviewed her Sarasate release:
Yang has already demonstrated not only her stunning, effortless virtuosity, but an uncanny affinity for Spanish music in a recording of Sarasate's Spanish Dances (Naxos 8.557767). Here her ability to capture the bel canto style - its meltingly beautiful sound, vocal fireworks, rhythmic flexibility, graciousness, and charm - is equally astonishing. Her double stops are impeccably in tune, her runs glitter, her tone caresses the ear, and her expressiveness touches the heart without becoming sentimental or corny.
Yang became the youngest interpreter worldwide of the Paganini 24 Caprices when she recorded them at the age of 13. At 14 she gave her European debut in Prague. In 2003, she played in the Munich National Theater with the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra (Bayerische Staatsoper), with recitals in Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Vienna quickly following. In 2006, she was awarded the “PRIX MONTBLANC 2006” and recorded Volume 1 of the complete works of Sarasate (to be released on 7 CDs) for Naxos. In 2007, Tianwa was invited to perform at the Naxos 20 Year Anniversary concert at Wigmore Hall in London. Recitals in Germany and France, an extensive tour of Germany with Klassische Philharmonie Bonn (Heribert Beissel) followed, with concerts in Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Stuttgart, Munich, Hannover, Nuremberg, Karlsruhe and Wiesbaden, as well as a French Tour with the Orchestre National d'Île de France (Yoel Levi), and two tours to China.
2008 was even busier, with recitals at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, a recording for German Radio, multiple recital tours throughout Germany, and orchestral appearances in Austria, Spain, Hong Kong, a tour of Germany with the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra (Christoph Mueller), two appearances with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (Leoš Svárovský and Stefanos Tsialis) and, beginning 27 December, a tour of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Ningbo with the Navarra Symphony Orchestra (Ernest Martinez Izquierdo).
Upcoming highlights through 2010 and 11 include debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Nashville, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and Sinfonia Finlandia, among others.
When not touring, Tianwa lives in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and works with Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn in Karlsruhe.
Bio updated 13 October 2009. Please destroy any previous or undated bios.
Tianwa Yang (杨天娲)
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