The young Chinese pianist, whose playing earned an enthusiastic standing ovation at the Vail Steinway Piano Dedication Concert in 2004, will return to the Denison University Swasey Chapel stage for a full recital at 8 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 9). Yuja Wang is an accomplished performer whose artistry has brought her accolades and prizes around the world. She has studied for the past four years with Gary Graffman at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was named the 2006 Gilmore Young Artist Award winner in September of 2005.

A limited number of tickets may be available to the general public after distribution to the Denison campus community. If you are interested in obtaining tickets please send a self-addressed and stamped envelope to the Vail Series (Denison University, P.O. Box 701,43023) with a check made payable to Denison University in the amount of $15 for each ticket requested. Availability of tickets will be announced at the Vail Series web site (www.denison.edu/vailseries/) or by calling the Vail Hot Line (740-587-6557). Requests will be processed in the order received as space is determined and checks will be returned promptly if the concert is sold out.

Born in Beijing in 1987, Wang was drawn to the piano at the age of 6. She studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and became a frequent prizewinner in regional competitions. By May of 1999, at age 12, she performed in Paris at the concert for the winners of the "Mido" Concours De Tiano Sino-Francais. In July of 1999 she performed Chopin's "Concerto for Piano No. 1 in E minor" with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as winner of the concerto competition of the Morningside Music Bridge program at Mount Royal College in Calgary. In the summers of 2002 and 2003 she studied with renowned piano pedagogue John Perry at the Aspen Music Festival and won the concerto competition there in her first year of attendance.

This season (2006-2007), Wang will debut with the New York Philharmonic, the Houston, Chicago and San Francisco symphonies and with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan. She will tour the Netherlands with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and will return to China performing with both the China Philharmonic in Beijing and the Guangzhou Symphony. She also will make her first recital tour of Germany.

Wang will perform Haydn's "Sonata in C Major," "Three Lieder Transcriptions" from Franz Schubert, and "La Valse" by Maurice Ravel in the first half of her program. Three works by Chopin -- "Ballade No. 1 in G minor," "Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat Major," and "Waltz in C-Sharp minor" -- plus Sergei Prokofiev's "Toccata" will carry the audience through the post intermission portion of the concert.

For more information about the Vail Series, visit the Vail Web site at Vail Series

Read more about Yuja Wang by linking to her profile at www.icmtalent.com/musperf/profiles/60316.html

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Vail Series Concert featuring Yuja Wang, pianist; 8 p.m., Friday (Feb. 9), Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Dr.). Limited tickets may be available to the general public at $15 each; call 740-587-6557 to check on availability. Call 740-587-6266 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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(740) 587-8575