Chinese piano prodigy to perform at UF, Feb. 12

February 8, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As part of a national tour, 14-year-old Chinese pianist prodigy Nansong Huang will perform his only Florida concert at the University of Florida on Feb. 12.

The young student at the world-renowned Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing has won several major international music competitions, including the 2006 Seiler Piano Competition in Greece.

Huang’s program for the 7:30 p.m. concert at the University Auditorium includes masterful performances of rousing pieces by classical composers Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt and others. Admission is free and open to the public.

At the invitation of Kevin Robert Orr, an associate professor in the School of Music at the College of Fine Arts, Huang, his father, and his teacher, Jin Zhang, will make the journey to UF. Orr first met Huang in spring 2007 when the boy was a student in his annual Chinese-American International Piano Institute, held at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, in Chengdu.

“With each and every performance Nansong gave during the course of the Institute, the members of our international faculty were more and more astonished at the sheer artistry and total command of the keyboard this boy possessed,” Orr said. “He left a lasting impression upon us all, which is one of the principal reasons we wanted to invite him to Gainesville.”

Huang began piano lessons at the age of four, on an instrument his father purchased for him. Within five years, the boy from Hei Longjiang Province in northeastern China began devoting all his spare time to piano, and started to win regional competitions. In 2002, Huang moved with his father to Beijing and was soon enrolled in the Central Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Zhang, who is head of the piano division and considered to be one of China’s foremost piano teachers.

Huang’s performances have taken him to many different countries in the world. He has appeared in international music festivals in Germany, France, Japan, Canada and the United States. In June of 2007, he performed the “Yellow River Concerto” with the China Youth Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Secondary School of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. That memorable concert was recorded live and published on DVD. Huang also tours with his teacher, Professor Zhang, to give master classes and demonstrations throughout China.

In 2006, Huang recorded the Czerny Etudes, including the entire book of Op. 849 and part of Op. 740, along with J.S. Bach Little Preludes, for a Chinese label. His performances can be heard on a number of CDs published in China.

Parramore Pianos, the UF College of Fine Arts School of Music and the Chinese-American International Piano Institute are sponsoring the event.