Yuja Wang
(Photo © Felix Broede for Deutsche Grammophon)

The Denison University Vail Series’ 30th anniversary season will conclude with a performance by pianist Yuja Wang and the Russian National Orchestra at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28, in Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Drive). A limited number of tickets may be offered for sale to the general public at $15 if space allows. Details will be posted at vailseries.org, or call 740-587-6557.

This special event marks Wang’s fifth appearance as a Vail Series artist—a distinction she shares only with cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

“I think it’s safe to say that Swasey Chapel is one of the places where Yuja, now 22 years old, ‘cut her ivories,’ ” said Lorraine Wales, director of the Vail Series. “The Denison community first met Yuja as an exuberant new talent in 2004, when she appeared as a participant in the dedication of the Vail Steinway piano. Since then, her career has soared to dazzling heights, and it is a great privilege to present her as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra.”

Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature artist. Allan Kozinn of the New York Times wrote, after her 2009 Carnegie Hall orchestral debut, “She seems to have everything: speed, flexibility, pianistic thunder and interpretive nuance.” Wang has performed with many of the world’s prestigious orchestras, including the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, New World and San Francisco symphonies; the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tonalle orchestras; the Los Angeles, China, London and Nagoya philharmonics.

This season marks Wang’s first tour with the Russian National Orchestra, which has been recognized as one of the world’s top orchestras by a panel of international critics. Under the leadership of founder and artistic director Mikhail Pletnev and principal guest conductor Vladimir Jurowski, the Russian National Orchestra has created path-breaking artistic programs in Russia just as it has thrilled audiences around the globe. The Russian National Orchestra’s for-charity recording of Peter and the Wolf and Wolf Tracks, conducted by Kent Nagano and narrated by Sophia Loren, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, received a 2004 Grammy Award.

The Feb. 28 program at Denison will feature three Russian masterworks, reflecting passionate emotion and lyricism. They are Michail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmilla; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36.

Endowed by a generous gift from the late Mary and Foster McGaw in honor of Jeanne Vail, class of 1946, the Vail Series brings to Denison the world’s premier performers, as well as new musical talents, enriching the artistic experience of the entire Denison community. During the series’ 30 years at Denison, such extraordinary talents as Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Mark O’Connor, Itzhak Perlman, Wynton Marsalis, Leontyne Price, Dizzy Gillespie, Emanuel Ax, Béla Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and, of course, Yo-Yo Ma, have graced the stage of Swasey Chapel.