TAIGE WANG 王泰格
United States I 13
“I hope you can feel and be touched by what I intend to deliver from my music: the joy and misery, the hope and helplessness, the hatred and redemption—that you would say you were so moved, that you could not find words to describe.”
Taige Wang began piano at the age of 4 and gave his first public performance that year. The next year, he performed live on China Central Television and won his first competition; then, in 2018, at the age of 8, he gave his first full recital by the invitation of Steinway & Sons in Dalian, China, where he was born. He now has 35 competition wins to his name across Asia, Europe, and North America, and performance highlights include 2022 appearances at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, the Nixon Presidential Library, and Ognisko Polskie – the Polish Hearth in South Kensington, London, in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent. Taige is also a prize-winning composer, with a passion for making audiences “easily empathize” with his music, often by drawing inspiration from everyday life. His Toothbrush Rhapsody Trio “describes everyone’s morning scene—brushing teeth. When people see the title, they become curious to know what this music is and are interested to listen to it.” This year, he was commissioned by the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center to write a piano trio; he’ll perform its debut at Alice Tully Hall in April. He currently attends The Juilliard School Pre-College and studies with Yoheved Kaplinsky and William Grant Naboré and is a From the Top fellow. Outside of piano, he loves solving Rubik’s Cubes and once founded a cubing club at his school; he plays violin and likes Italian Opera; and he used to compete in tennis, earning an award from the United States Tennis Association junior league. Taige received the prestigious Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2022.
REPERTOIRE
Preliminary Round
BACH Prelude and Fugue in A Major, BWV 888
LISZT Paganini Etude No. 6 in A Minor
MENDELSSOHN Variations sérieuses, op. 54
Quarterfinal Round
CHOPIN Nocturne in B Major, op. 9, no. 3
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, op. 7 (I)
LISZT Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata
Semifinal Round – Recital
BACH Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989
SCHUMANN Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, op. 22
BOLCOM Nine Bagatelles
Final Round – Concerto
RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43