Lang Lang Talks Beethoven, Charleston, and the Power of Music
From The Post and Courier's Arts & Culture Lab: An interview with Lang Lang.
Ahead of his one-night-only appearance with the Charleston Symphony, internationally renowned pianist Lang Lang spoke with The Post and Courier about Beethoven, music education, and the experiences that first inspired his own love of classical music.
On September 28 at the Gaillard Center, Lang Lang will join the Charleston Symphony for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor,” with Artistic Director and Concertmaster Yuriy Bekker conducting. The all-Beethoven program also features Symphony No. 7.
In the article, Lang Lang reflects on what continues to excite him about the “Emperor” Concerto, describing its dramatic opening and the contrast between its heroic and intimate moments. He also shares how his earliest encounter with classical music came at age two through an episode of Tom and Jerry featuring Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
The story also explores Lang Lang’s commitment to music education. Through the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s Keys of Inspiration program, students from Sanders-Clyde Elementary will attend the Charleston Symphony’s dress rehearsal and have the opportunity to meet him.
For Lang Lang, that connection between music and community is central to why performances like this matter. Speaking about Charleston, he described it as “a real city with a real orchestra that its people care about.”
Read the full feature, “Pianist who’s performed at World Cup, Olympics to play with Charleston Symphony,” by Chelsea Grinstead in The Post and Courier (Arts & Culture Lab).
Arts and culture coverage at The Post and Courier is made possible by community support. The Arts & Culture Lab allows P&C to invest in meaningful reporting that highlights creativity, history and cultural expression across South Carolina.
The newly launched Arts and Culture Lab initiative expands The Post and Courier’s arts coverage through two major newsroom additions: a new full-time Arts and Culture reporter and a free, statewide Arts and Culture calendar designed to help communities across South Carolina share, discover, and promote cultural events. Because the generous support of donors, content from the Arts and Culture Lab will be available for free to all readers at postandcourier.com/ArtsandCulture
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