ALBANY — The world has known Wei Luo as an acclaimed classical pianist since stepping in front of her first orchestra when she was 11, but her passion for the arts extends beyond that of the ebony and ivory often in front of her.
“I think my biggest passion in life is the arts,” said Luo. “Obviously, I am a pianist, so I want to express and I want to connect with people with my music, with the performances that I do. Making that connection with people and to love each other, I think that’s the most important thing in my life.”
Luo’s realization of that passion became evident to her during the height of the pandemic. Marked by global shutdowns and frequent quarantines, she would find herself lost while sequestered in a hotel room without a piano. What she soon found was the desire to write poetry.
This Saturday, Feb 12, Luo will revisit her 2017 premiere with the Albany Symphony Orchestra with a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Later this year, however, she plans to host an immersive art exhibit in Midtown Manhattan featuring portraits and poetry she wrote about Prokofiev, all the while she plays the work of her favorite composer on piano.
The Russian pianist and composer is dear to her. The composition she is to play at the Palace this weekend is the same piece she performed before the Shanghai Philharmonic when she was 11.
As a child, Wei said, she was quiet. She learned to express herself behind the keyboard, where she would remain for hours. Today, the 22-year-old is in flight while on stage. The electricity she finds in Prokofiev’s work appears to surge through her as she plays. Her promotional photographs accentuate this passionate play, freezing in time her long, flowing mane of black hair.
Wei has other favorites, some of whom she has shared on a YouTube channel. But, in recent months, she said she found herself drawn back to Prokofiev while looking for a source of strength and courage.
The Peter and the Wolf composer was a bit of a rebel. Prokofiev’s early works would stray from the conventional. Sarcasms for piano, Op. 17, in particular, presented a manic display of polytonality that prompted one audience to leave in disgust. But his use of the percussive, she said, is what strikes her.
“Especially during the last year, so many things were changing,” said Wei, describing her mindset during the COVID pandemic. “I went back to Prokofiev the most and I found so much courage and power to be brave enough to deal with all of these ever-changing problems in life.”
Wei comes back to Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a fitting tribute to the composer she most admires, just days before Valentine’s Day in Albany. The Valentine’s Weekend program also includes Tchaikovsky’s masterful Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique,” and New York City-based British composer Hannah Kendall’s The Spark Catchers.
“I am beyond excited to be back with Albany Symphony to perform this masterpiece,” said Luo. “The Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto is one of the most powerful yet beautiful concertos of all time with touching melodies, percussive sounds, and electrifying rhythms. It will be a blast!”
Music Director David Alan Miller said he’s excited to have her back as one of two favorite virtuoso pianists who will be featured on two separate weekends.
Luo returns to perform On Saturday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 pm at the Palace Theatre and streaming live online.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Wei Luo back to play one of my all-time favorite piano concertos, Prokofiev’s glorious Third, along with the most romantic, passionate, life-affirming Russian symphony in the repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth, the ‘Pathétique,’ Miller said. “We’re also delighted to feature a brilliant recent work by composer Hannah Kendall. All the music on this program crackles with warmth and love; it is the perfect antidote for a cold winter’s night, and a musical Valentine you won’t want to miss.”
On Saturday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m., Kevin Cole—the foremost interpreter of the music of George Gershwin—makes his long-awaited triumphant return for a special program including a rare presentation of an iconic favorite.
“We’re delighted to welcome Kevin Cole back for a gorgeous evening of Gershwin classics from the 1920s, including ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ performed in its seldom heard original jazz band version, and some of Kevin’s own dazzling Gershwin improvisations,” Miller said. “Don’t miss this concert; it will be unforgettable!”
Originally scheduled as a one-night-only performance for Saturday night, a Sunday afternoon matinee was recently added to Gershwin Weekend and a virtual livestream has also been added for the Saturday night performance by popular demand. According to Cole, the appreciation is mutual:
“Every time I perform with Conductor David Alan Miller and Albany Symphony it’s an electrifying event! We have always been in syncopated synchronization with Gershwin. After more than 20 years of David and I performing together we’ve found a beautiful balance of lush romanticism layered with roller coaster thrills!”
Tickets ($20 to $62; livestream $37) are on sale now at (518) 694-3300 and albanysymphony.com. Saturday night Gershwin availability is limited.
In accordance with local guidelines and in coordination with our partner venues, the Albany Symphony has adopted health and safety protocols for the wellbeing of all patrons, musicians, and staff. Patrons will be required to present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and matching ID upon arrival. (A recent negative PCR COVID test will be accepted in lieu of vaccination only with proof of exemption—see proctors.org for details.) All patrons will be required to wear masks while indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
The Albany Symphony celebrates our living musical heritage through its adventurous programming, commissioning and recording of new work, and broad community engagement beyond the concert hall.
Recognized as one of the American’s most innovative and creative orchestras, the two-time Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony is renowned for virtuosic performances featuring classic orchestral favorites, lesser-heard masterworks, and a diverse array of new music from leading and emerging voices of today. The Symphony has received more ASCAP Awards than any other orchestra in America, as well as several Grammy nominations, including the orchestra’s most recent win in 2021.
Led by Music Director David Alan Miller, now in his 30th year, the Symphony presents a core classical series throughout the region, each featuring a world-premiere or recent composition; a multi-day American Music Festival that celebrates established and emerging living composers; performances by its cutting-edge new music chamber ensemble, the Dogs of Desire; and a family series and holiday concerts in collaboration with youth performing arts groups. The Albany Symphony’s award-winning education programs serve all ages, from Tiny Tots concerts to library talks and pre-concert Classical Conversations. Symphony in Our Schools brings musicians into classrooms for interactive music education, and Literacy-through-Songwriting, its in-school composer residency program, empowers youth to tackle issues of diversity and self-expression through songwriting, storytelling, improvisation, and teamwork.
Founded in 1930 in New York’s Capital Region, the Albany Symphony serves a diverse regional audience covering more than seven counties and parts of three states. In addition to an eight-concert subscription season, an annual multi-day American Music Festival including performances by the orchestra’s genre-bending ensemble Dogs of Desire, and a host of education and community outreach events, the Albany Symphony regularly serves as an ambassador for new music and Upstate innovation beyond the Capital Region. The Symphony is the only organization to have made multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall’s invitational Spring for Music festival, and past special Symphony initiatives include 2017’s Water Music NY tour, which drew nearly 25,000 people to concert events in seven towns along the historic Erie Canal. In each of the canal towns, the Symphony commissioned emerging composers to collaborate with local arts organizations to create a new orchestral piece to express each town’s unique heritage.
As a leader in the creation, performance, and recording of new orchestral music, the Albany Symphony is reshaping the nation’s musical legacy.
ABOUT DAVID ALAN MILLER
Two-time Grammy Award winning conductor David Alan Miller has established a reputation as one of the leading American conductors of his generation. As music director of the Albany Symphony since 1992, Miller has proven himself a creative and compelling orchestra builder. Through exploration of unusual repertoire, educational programming, community outreach, and recording initiatives, he has reaffirmed the Albany Symphony’s reputation as the nation’s leading champion of American symphonic music and one of its most innovative orchestras. He and the orchestra have twice appeared at “Spring For Music,” an annual festival of America’s most creative orchestras at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, and at the SHIFT Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Other accolades include Columbia University’s 2003 Ditson Conductor’s Award, the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to American music, the 2001 ASCAP Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming, and, in 1999, ASCAP’s first-ever Leonard Bernstein Award for Outstanding Educational Programming.
Frequently in demand as a guest conductor, Miller has worked with most of America’s major orchestras, including the orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, as well as the New World Symphony, the Boston Pops, and the New York City Ballet. In addition, he has appeared frequently throughout Europe, the UK, Australia, and the Far East as guest conductor. Since 2019, Miller has served as Artistic Advisor to the Little Orchestra Society in New York City, and, from 2006 to 2012, served as Artistic Director of “New Paths in Music,” a festival of new music from around the world, also in New York City.
Miller received his most recent Grammy Award in 2021 for his recording of Christopher Theofanidis’ Viola Concerto, with Richard O’Neill and the Albany Symphony, and his first Grammy in 2014 for his Naxos recording of John Corigliano’s “Conjurer,” with the Albany Symphony and Dame Evelyn Glennie. His extensive discography also includes recordings of the works of Todd Levin with the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon, as well as music by Michael Daugherty, Kamran Ince, Michael Torke (London/Decca), Luis Tinoco, and Christopher Rouse (Naxos). His recordings with the Albany Symphony include discs devoted to the music of John Harbison, Roy Harris, Morton Gould, Don Gillis, Aaron J. Kernis, Peter Mennin, and Vincent Persichetti on the Albany Records label. He has also conducted the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic in three acclaimed recordings on Naxos.
A native of Los Angeles, David Alan Miller holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from The Juilliard School. Prior to his appointment in Albany, Miller was associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From 1982 to 1988, he was music director of the New York Youth Symphony, earning considerable acclaim for his work with that ensemble. Miller lives in Slingerlands, New York, a rural suburb of Albany.
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“Luo seems destined for stardom. With a minimum of fuss but a huge dose of flabbergasting technique, she ripped through Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major with ease and authority.” – -San Diego Union Tribune
“And judging by a very exciting finale of Prokofiev’s Seventh Piano Sonata, Wei Luo might very well be admitted to that select company (Danill Trifonov and Igor Levit) very soon.” —— Gramophone.com
“The young artist is carving out her own space among her Curtis predecessors with deep sonorities, fiery intensity and unfiltered rawness. Luo’s strong connection to the Russian compositions was plain throughout the concert.”
—- REVUE magazine
Pianist Wei Luo, as one of the most promising students of legendary Gary Graffman, was recognized by American classical radio station WQXR as one of the 19 artists to watch in 2019.
In August 2019, Wei released her self-titled debut album produced under DeccaGold, Universal Music Group by Erica Brenner. The album was recommended and featured by the “Gramophone” online as one of the most exciting new releases in July 2019. Soon after the release on online platforms, it was featured on Apple Music Amazon Music, WQXR and etc.
San Diego Union Tribune describes: “This recording reveals a dazzling artist with an astonishing range of colors at her disposal, put to the service of a confident young soul whose musicality suggests the experience of someone two decades older.”
Most recent, Wei is giving a solo concert tour throughout China major cities and venues, including Shanghai Cocnert Hall, Beijing National Center of Performing Art, Guangzhou Opera House, Haerbin, Chongqing, Guiyang and etc. She performed with Maestro Yulong at Guangzhou symphony orchestra closing season concert— Rachmaninoff 2nd concerto, as well as Shenzhen Symphony orchestra with Maestro Yangyang, Beethoven 4th concerto with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Guiyang Symphony orchestra with Maestro Zhang Guoyong and “Yellow River concerto” with Qingdao Symphony at its closing season concert.
For World Sleep Day 2021, Wei participated in the campaign for Universal Music Group, along with 18 other UMG musicians worldwide. Wei released “Nocturne” by composer Christopher Tin.
Prior to the Pandemic, Wei makes her debut with San Diego Symphony, with Jahja Ling. In the past years, she has performed Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 with Quad City symphony, Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern, and Mendelssohn’s Concerto in G minor with the Denver Philharmonic. She was featured soloist with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, Kunming Symphony orchestra, Albany Symphony, conducted by Maestro David Allen Miller performing Mozart concerto no.24. Wei has made her solo recital debuts and performances in major cities and music festivals, including Lucerne Switzerland, New York City (Mostly Mozart Festival, NY international keyboard festival), San Francisco Herbst Theater, Napa Valley Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival and etc.
Wei received the Gilmore Young Artist Award at age 17 in 2018, and was the winner and recipient of the “Salon de Virtuosi” Career Grant in New York at age 16. “Philadelphia Inquirer” describes her performance“Equally intriguing were those odd moments when she took you so far inside the music that your ears left behind previous points of reference, partly because she immerses herself in the music with an intensity that borders on madness.”She made her orchestra debut at age 11 with the Shanghai Philharmonic where, along with artistic director Muhai Tang, they opened the 2011 season by performing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
Wei has recorded short pieces for STEINWAY & SONS Spirio piano. Her recitals have been featured and broadcasted nationwide, including WHYY Pennsylvania, Minnesota public radio, Michigan WCMU, Texas Rio Grande, North Carolina The Classical Station WCPE among others.
Born in Shenzhen, China, she showed great interest in music and began piano lessons at age five. She gave her debut recital in Hong Kong at age six. Winner of numerous competitions in China, Wei also claimed first prize in the 11th Chopin International Competition for Young Pianists in Poland and the 2nd Rachmaninov International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Frankfurt, both in 2010.
In 2012, at age thirteen, Wei was accepted to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studies with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald. Before that, Wei entered the Shenzhen Arts school with the highest score at age eight. She was accepted with the highest score again to the middle school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with Tang Zhe at age nine. Wei is pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Wei is an avid performer of contemporary music. The Poems, a set of short pieces that Wei commissioned, written by American contemporary composer and pianist Marc Neikrug, was premiered in summer 2019.
Wei has always enjoyed performing in unconventional venues and doing charity concerts. She played recitals in the City Pavilion during Expo Shanghai 2010. She has also visited and given charity performances in nursing houses, kindergartens, hospitals, churches, and scientific research institutions, during her concert travels to Indiana, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Denver, New Jersey.
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The world knows Wei Luo as a gift pianist, but she likes to see herself more as an artist. And to hear her speak about expressing her passion for expression, you see why.
