Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Yuja Wang, piano and director

Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances, famously telling the New York Times ‘I firmly believe very program should have its own life, and be a representation of how I feel at the moment’.  

Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall alongside conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Philadelphia Orchestra. This historic event celebrating 150 years since the birth of Rachmaninoff, included performances of all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in one afternoon and saw queues around the block for tickets on the day. The 2022/23 season also saw Yuja perform the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No.3 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and further performances of the work throughout North America and Europe across the season. 

Yuja was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.  

As a chamber musician, Yuja has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. This season, Yuja embarks on a highly-anticipated international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with performances in world-class venues across North America and Europe, which will once again showcase her flair, technical ability and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging programme. 

Matthew Truscott is a versatile violinist who shares his time between period instrument music and ‘modern’ performance, appearing with some of the finest musicians in both fields. He is concertmaster of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and one of the leaders of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

In demand as a guest leader, his engagements in this capacity have included projects with the English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, The English Concert, Le Concert d’Astrée, The King’s Consort and Arcangelo. He is also leader of Classical Opera, St James’s Baroque and the Magdalena Consort.

A keen chamber musician, recent recordings have included a set of Purcell Trio Sonatas with Retrospect Trio, a disc of Bach chamber music with Trevor Pinnock, Emmanuel Pahud and Jonathan Manson, and one of Haydn Piano Trios with Richard Lester and Simon Crawford-Phillips.

Matthew teaches baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London.