Bio
“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."
Lawrence B. Johnson, Detroit News
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.
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”.
Yang recorded Volume 1 of the complete works of Sarasate for Naxos in 2006, and won a contract to record 6 further volumes. Since then all 7 CDs have been recorded, and 3 have been issued to date. 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), two tours to China, recitals at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, recordings for German Radio, multiple recital tours throughout Germany, and orchestral appearances in Austria, Spain and Hong Kong, including the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra.
In October 2008 Tianwa Yang appeared for the first time with a major American symphony orchestra (Detroit Symphony conducted by Günther Herbig), and garnered unprecedented critical acclaim. Since then her career has blossomed with orchestral engagements including debuts with the Seattle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony Orchestras, and BBC Philharmonic as well as tours of Germany (Klassische Philharmonie) and China (Navarra Symphony Orchestra), recitals and chamber music festivals.
Upcoming highlights through 2010 and 11 include debuts at the Ravinia Festival, with Sinfonia Finlandia, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Leipzig, the Bohuslav Matinu Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Kammerphilharmonie, Switzerland, a tour of New Zealand with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and her return to the BBC Philharmonic, the Nashville Symphony, and the Orchestre National de L'Ile de France.
When not touring, Tianwa lives in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and works with Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn in Karlsruhe.
“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.”
John Sutherland, Seattle Times
Bio updated 19 July 2010. Please destroy any previous or undated bios.
Tianwa Yang (杨天娲)
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