GREAT PERFORMERS SERIES
YUJA WANG PLAYS RACHMANINOFF
Overview
Yuja Wang returns for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s epic Third Piano Concerto. Unfurling from a simple melody sung by the piano, the work grows in complexity and scope culminating in a torrent of bravura. Two contemporary pieces by composers with local connections complete the program: Bay Area native Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails is an ode to the rugged beauty of Point Reyes, and Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen’s tone poem Nyx depicts the mysterious figure from Greek mythology.
Program
Piano Concerto No. 3
PRESENTING SPONSOR OF
THE GREAT PERFORMERS SERIES
These concerts are generously sponsored by Nellie and Max Levchin and the Athena T. Blackburn Endowed Fund for Russian Music.
Piano
Wang was born into a musical family and began studying the piano at the age of six. She received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and albums. Her recordings have garnered multiple awards, including five Grammy nominations and her first Grammy win for Best Classical Instrumental Solo with her 2023 release The American Project, which featured music by Teddy Abrams and Michael Tilson Thomas. For this she has also won an Opus Klassik award in the concerto category.
As a chamber musician, Wang has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She returns to the Great Performers Series for a recital in April 2027.
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