Hailed as an “exceptionally brilliant Chinese pianist” and “a colorist of exemplary control,” Lei Weng will perform a piano recital on Friday, March 4, at 8 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall. The program includes works by Gao Ping, Mozart, Chopin and Liszt.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students. They are available online at https://csupomona.tix.com.
On Thursday, March 3, he will give a free master class at 1:30 p.m.
The campus community is invited to attend the class, held in the Music
Recital Hall.
Weng, assistant professor of piano at the University of Northern
Colorado, was hailed as “the exceptionally brilliant Chinese pianist” in
his Seattle debut with the Northwest Mahler Festival Symphony in 2004
when he performed Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto.
New York Concert Review acclaimed Weng as “a colorist of exemplary
control” for his Carnegie Hall sold-out debut in December 2006. He
returned to Carnegie Hall two months later upon an immediate
re-invitation, and New York Concert Review remarked that “Weng displayed
a powerhouse technique and provided good contrast with delicate
moments.”
His performances have been described as “spirited and full of nuances” and “colorful and flamboyant.” China’s Tianjin Daily remarked on his “profound and immense artistry,” and Scott Cantrell, music critic at the Dallas Morning News wrote: “Fabulous playing – really fresh, personal! I love the unpredictability, the willingness to take chances, not just to sound like someone else.”
Weng is a featured artist of the Prestige Artist Foundation in New York, and the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation in Switzerland and England, and is the co-founder and co-director of the Colorado Piano Festival at University of Northern Colorado.
He has won the top prize in the Isabel Scionti International Piano Competition and the Camerata Piano Competition, silver medal in the Wideman International Piano Competition and third prize at the Kingsville International Competition. He was also a prizewinner in the China National Piano Competition and the TCU/Cliburn Competition.
Weng has performed at such venues as Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall Center in New York, Phillips Collections in Washington D.C., Beijing Music Hall and the Tanglewood Festival. As an orchestral soloist, Weng has appeared with orchestras from Seattle, Beijing and Tianjin, as well as the Taitung University Symphony, China National Symphony and Chorus, and UNC Symphony Orchestra.