RACHMANINOFF PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3
Possessing an “astonishing command of keyboard tone and color” (The Guardian), pianist Eric Lu is at the forefront of a new generation of solo artists pairing phenomenal talent with deep emotional maturity. Winner of The Leeds International Piano Competition at just 20 years of age, Lu debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti in October of 2022 and will make appearances with leading orchestras across 2023-2024.
Music Director Earl Lee directs this riveting concert that also features Zhou Tian’s sonic tribute to the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion, plus Ravel’s La valse — a dramatic, destructive, and demonic depiction of post-war Vienna.
Friday, February 16, 2024 | 8 PM | Hill Auditorium
Pre-concert talk at 7 PM
Eric Lu, piano
Earl Lee, conductor
Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
Zhou Tian Transcend
Maurice Ravel La valse
Eric Lu, piano
Eric Lu won First Prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018 at the age of 20. The following year, he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics, and was a recipient of the 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant. In October 2022, Eric made his debut with the Chicago Symphony and Riccardo Muti.
Lu’s 22-23 season included subscription debuts with the London Symphony, Boston Symphony, and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. He will also give recitals at the Cologne Philharmonie, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and a return to the Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.
Recent seasons highlights include performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and appearing at the BBC Proms with the Shanghai Symphony. Eric Lu has worked with the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Singapore Symphony, and on tour with the Orchestre National de Lille. He has worked with conductors Riccardo Muti, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Vasily Petrenko, Ryan Bancroft, Edward Gardner, Sir Mark Elder, Thomas Dausgaard, Ruth Reinhardt, Martin Frӧst, and Long Yu.
Eric has appeared in recital at Amsterdam Concertgebouw, BOZAR Brussels, 92nd St Y NY, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris, Cal Performances Berkeley, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, and Sala São Paulo. He regularly returns to give recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall.
In 2020, Warner Classics released Eric’s first studio album, featuring the Chopin 24 Preludes, and Schumann’s Geistervariationen. It was met with critical acclaim, including one of BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Instrumental Records of the Year’. In 2018, Eric’s winning live performances of Beethoven and Chopin from The Leeds with The Hallé and Edward Gardner was released by Warner. Eric looks forward to the release of Schubert’s Sonatas D.959 and 784 in December 2022.
Born in Massachusetts in 1997, Eric Lu first came to international attention as a Laureate at the 2015 Chopin International Competition in Warsaw aged just 17. He was also awarded the International German Piano Award in 2017. Eric is a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-22. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Robert McDonald and Jonathan Biss. He was also a pupil of Dang Thai Son, and has been mentored by Mitsuko Uchida and Imogen Cooper. He is now based in Berlin and Boston.