Lang Lang Autobiography Available

Posted by Sarah Canice Funke Jul 21, 2008

The Chinese pianist Lang Lang may be world famous now, but how did he get there? For an in-depth look at the pianist selling out to crowds of tens of thousands, pick up a copy of Lang Lang's new autobiography Journey of a Thousand Miles. With colorful anecdotes and gritty honesty, Lang Lang describes his journey that took him from the small town of Shenyang, China to the world's stage.

The journey wasn't easy. Lang Lang journeyed with his father to the big city of Beijing to try to get into a music conservatory. They eeked out a living on the money his mother was able to send to him while Lang Lang took private lessons from a demanding professor from the Central Conservatory of Music, hoping to be thought good enough to land a place in the school. At the age of 14, Lang Lang's quest for musical greatness brought him to the United States, where he studied under Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

His big break came after three more years of diligent study, when he was ready in the wings to substitute for Andre Watts, who was too ill to perform one evening. Lang Lang performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and sealed his place in the public eye.

For more information, please read the NPR Music article.