Photo by David Bazemore
Friday, June 19, 2009
In addition to unveiling a remarkable 2009-2010 season of programming yesterday, the Santa Barbara Symphony announced that it would be collaborating with the Chinese pianist Lang Lang on a special concert scheduled for Saturday, September 5, at the Granada. The 26-year-old Lang Lang is the classical music world’s hottest performer at the moment, and was named to Time Magazine’s list of the Top 100 Most Influential People of 2008. With the Santa Barbara Symphony, Lang Lang will undertake a monumental program that includes two Beethoven piano concertos (Numbers 2 and 3) in a single evening. To prepare for this event, Lang Lang and the orchestra will set aside nearly twice the usual rehearsal time.
The idea came from the pianist, who approached S.B. Symphony maestro Nir Kabaretti after having a positive experience with Santa Barbara and the Granada as part of the 2008-2009 UCSB Arts and Lectures series. Lang Lang was reportedly so taken with the acoustics of the space and the quality of the Steinway piano that he chose to come here in order to practice for a European tour in which he will be playing these two concertos back-to-back with the world’s top orchestras. Lang Lang has an extraordinary reputation right now, and was the first Chinese pianist to perform as a soloist with both the Berlin and the Vienna philharmonics.
Tickets for this one-night-only special event are available now to S.B. Symphony subscribers. Single ticket sales for the show will commence on Tuesday, June 23. For more information about this concert and the whole upcoming symphony season, visit thesymphony.org or call 898-9526.