Jian Wang (cellist)

Jian Wang
Jian Wang at rehearsal
Background information
Born	1968 Xi'an, China
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Cellist
Instruments	Cello
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Deutsche Grammophon

Jian Wang (Chinese: 王健 Wáng Jiàn; born 1968 in Xi'an, China) is a Chinese cellist.

He began to study the cello with his father when he was four. At the age of ten, while a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he was featured in the celebrated documentary film From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. Mr. Stern's encouragement and support paved the way for him to go to the United States and in 1985 he entered the Yale School of Music under a special programme where he studied with the renowned cellist Aldo Parisot. After graduating from Yale in 1988, he entered with full scholarship Juilliard School.

Wang has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, Chicago and Boston Symphonies, London Symphony, the Halle, the BBC orchestras, Zurich Tonhalle, Gothenburg Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia, La Scala, Mahler Chamber, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Czech Philhamonic, and NHK Symphony. These concerts have been with many of the greatest conductors, such as Abbado, Sawallisch, Jarvi, Chailly, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Chung, Gilbert, Van Zweden and Gustavo Dudamel. As a jury member, Wang has judged many of the most important competitions, including the Tchaikovsky cello competition, the Queen Elizabeth cello competition, the Isaac Stern violin competition and the Nielsen violin competition.

Wang has made many recordings, his latest releases being the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Sydney Symphony and Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has also recorded an album of short pieces for Cello and Guitar titled Reverie, the complete Bach Cello Suites and a Baroque Album with the Camerata Salzburg, Brahms Double Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado and Gil Shaham, the Haydn Concerti with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Muhai Tang, Messiaens Quartet for the End of Time (with Myung-Whun Chung, Gil Shaham and Paul Meyer) and Brahms, Mozart and Schumann chamber music with Pires and Dumay. His instrument is graciously loaned to him by the family of the late Mr. Sau-Wing Lam.

Recordings[]

• "Presenting Jian Wang" (Delos Records, 1992)
• Brahms - "Piano Trios" with pianist Maria João Pires and violinist Augustin Dumay (Deutsche Grammophon, 1995)
• Mozart - "Piano Trios K.496 & K.502" with pianist Maria João Pires and violinist Augustin Dumay (Deutsche Grammophon, 1997)
• "Haydn Cello Concertos" Muhai Tang,(Deutsche Grammophon, 1999)
• "Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time" with Gil Shaham, Paul Meyer and Myung-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon, 2001)
• "Brahms Double Concerto" with Gil Shaham and Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon, 2001)
• "The Baroque Album" (Deutsche Grammophon, 2003)
• "JS Bach: The Unaccompanied Cello Suites" (Deutsche Grammophon, 2005)
• "Reverie" with guitarist Göran Söllscher (Deutsche Grammophon, 2007)

External links[]

• Standard short biography of Jian Wang on the site of Deutsche Grammophon