JAMES (ZIJIAN) WEI (piano, China)
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH – Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825
FERENC LISZT – Fantasie über Themen aus Mozarts Figaro und Don Giovanni (Fantasy on themes from Mozart’s Figaro and Don Giovanni), S. 697
MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS – Variations Besacas, VL 265
ROBERT SCHUMANN – Cycle Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15
LÜ WENCHENG – Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake
MAURICE RAVEL – Waltz, M. 35
This Vilnius Piano Festival concert is a great chance for Lithuanian audience to get to know James (Zijian) Wei, winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition 2024, third prize winner of the 76th Geneva International Music Competition, and winner of the Rose-Marie Huguenin Special Prize. As a winner of the Cleveland Competition, the pianist will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York this year and at the Tonhalle in Zurich in 2026. Wei is also a prize winner of important competitions in his country, including the China Grand Canal International Piano Festival and the Lang Lang Cup Competition.
The pianist has performed in Europe, North America, and China with symphony orchestras such as the Cleveland, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Shanghai Philharmonic, and Xiamen Philharmonic, among others. Tonight, Wei offers a particularly diverse and colourful programme, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ferenc Liszt, Robert Schumann, Maurice Ravel, 20th-century Chinese composer Lü Wencheng, and, most notably, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.
