The 25-year-old piano prodigy Lang Lang has returned to China after a world tour, during which he played with some of the very best orchestras of Europe and the United States. Known for his expressive and emotional interpretation of classical pieces, this concert is sure to be powerful and moving.

A child prodigy, he began to play the piano at age 3 and went to the United States at 15 for further study. He found fame overnight on August 14, 1999, when he played as a replacement for a sick pianist performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since that performance, he has been hailed as a talent matured beyond his age.

Upon joining the ranks of the famous, he has spent most of his time abroad. He has played with some of the most prominent orchestras on earth, including the Berlin, London and New York philharmonic orchestras, as well as the Philadelphia, Boston, and NHK symphony orchestras. He has also given solo performances at some of the most prestigious venues, including the Louvre, London's Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York.

"When I was 2, I was watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The rhythm of the chase scene perfectly matched the piano music of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. It was fantastic, and I knocked the tune out right afterwards on the piano," he says. The talent he displayed then fully convinced his father, Lang Guoren, that little Lang Lang would one day be a world-famous pianist.

Strong parental support is a part of the background of many successful musicians in China, and Lang Guoren is a prime specimen of this phenomenon.

Taking Lang Lang's dream as his own, Lang Guoren quit his job on the police force and accompanied Lang Lang to Beijing. For more than a decade, he followed Lang Lang everywhere he went, not only as a father, but also as a manager, tutor and friend.

He put Lang Lang's picture on his desk alongside those two of Schubert and Beethoven. He hoped his son might one day become as well known as those maestros.

When he's not behind the ivories, Lang Lang enjoys watching cartoons and movies, and taking strolls through the forest.

He is also fond of conducting and composing.

On Jan 3 and 4, at National Center for Performing Arts. 6417-7845

(China Daily 12/26/2007 page3)