As a pianist, educator, and philanthropist, Lang Lang is one of the world’s most influential and committed ambassadors for the arts in the 21st century. Equally happy playing for billions of viewers at the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing or for a few hundred children in the public schools, he is a master of communicating through music.

Lang Lang performs with the world’s top orchestras, collaborating with conductors including Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, and Christoph Eschenbach. Known for thinking outside the box, Lang Lang has also performed with Metallica, Pharrell Williams, and Herbie Hancock. In 2008 he founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. In 2013 the Secretary General of the United Nations designated him a Messenger of Peace, focusing on global education.

Lang Lang started playing the piano at age three and gave his first public recital at five. He entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory at nine; four years later, he won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. He then moved to Philadelphia to study with pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was 17 when his big break came: substituting for André Watts at the Gala of the Century, playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He became an overnight sensation. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in October 2000 as a Shenson Young Artist.

In 2010, Lang Lang received the Crystal Award in Davos and was chosen as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. He holds honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and New York University. In December 2011 he was honored with the highest prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and also received the highest civilian honors in Germany (Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) and France (Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters). In 2016 he was invited to the Vatican to perform for Pope Francis. He has also performed for numerous other international dignitaries, including four US presidents and the leaders of many nations.

Born in Romania, Ion Marin studied composition, piano, and conducting at the George Enescu Music Academy and Mozarteum Salzburg. In 1986, he defected from Romania and started a new life in Vienna, where he became resident conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Since 2014–15, he has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Hamburg Symphony, resident orchestra of the Elbphilharmonie. In 2019, he was named Artistic Director of the newly founded Philharmonic Orchestra of the European Union. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut at this performance.

This season, Mr. Marin collaborates with pianist Chick Corea on a concerto tour with destinations as varied as Shanghai Symphony Hall and the Royal Opera House of Muscat. Recent appearances focused on the music of Mahler in concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Marin has been a regular guest at the world’s major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera and Opéra National de Paris, and he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has also appeared regularly in Japan with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He regularly collaborates with artists such as Martha Argerich, Yo-Yo Ma, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer, Hélène Grimaud, and Angela Gheorghiu. He also worked with Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Alexis Weissenberg.

Mr. Marin’s discography of more than forty titles on the Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI, Sony, and Philips labels have earned him three Grammy nominations, the Diapason d'Or, the German Recording Critics’ Award, and an ECHO Klassik award. Recent recordings include a concert with Renée Fleming and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Waldbühne, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with David Garrett and the Royal Philharmonic, and Bruch's violin concertos with Guy Braunstein and the Bamberg Symphony.  

In 2012, Mr. Marin initiated the Cantus Mundi and the Symphonia Mundi projects in Romania, dedicated to the education and social integration of the country’s disadvantaged children through music.

(October 2019)