Yuja Wang Plays Barber

Known for her “glamorous sound, fiery technique and sharp musicality” (Symphony), Yuja Wang is the ultimate rockstar pianist of the classical music world. She returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall as “Houdini and Horowitz rolled into one” (Los Angeles Times), bringing her awe-inspiring playing and mesmerizing stage presence to Barber’s Piano Concerto. Barber described his concerto as “declamatory” and “rhythmic” for its exhilarating, chromatic runs and sweeping, passionate passages—it’s like a tumultuous duel between the piano and orchestra! Conductor Kwamé Ryan makes his LA Phil debut, pairing the thrills of Barber with the mighty power and heroism of Copland’s brass-filled Symphony No. 3. This all-American program arrives right on time, following Ryan’s first Grammy win for his recording of Jake Heggie’s opera Intelligence, inspired by two female spies from the American Civil War.