NCPA Hosts Record Sharing Session for Young Pianist Luo Wei’s Latest Album “Gazing”
The National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) held a record sharing session for the latest album “Luo Wei: Gazing” by young pianist Luo Wei. The event was part of the NCPA’s “Entering the World in Records” art activity, with the theme “More than music, more than the East”. Luo Wei introduced his new album to music fans and friends, performing tracks from albums such as “Granada” and “Oriental”. The sharing session also featured dialogues on the topic of music and literature with esteemed guests such as poet and translator Xi Chuan, poet Ouyang Jianghe, and composer Guo Wenjing.
“Luo Wei: Gazing” is the newest addition to the “Young Chinese Musician Debut Series Records” publishing plan, initiated by NCPA Classics, the music label of the National Center for the Performing Arts in 2022. Luo Wei, a young pianist based in the United States, presents classic piano works by Western composers with a combination of virtuosity and appreciation. The album includes pieces by renowned composers such as Balakirev’s “Islamic Beauty” and Debussy’s masterpiece “Moonlight”. According to Luo Wei, the selection of these pieces aims to convey a particular line of thinking and values through music, acting as a mirror that reflects poetic imagery under the moonlight, in forests, harbors, mountains, and small bridges.
During the sharing session, Luo Wei showcased tracks from several albums, including “Granada”, “Oriental”, “Moonlight”, and “Chasing”. The conversation during the event focused on the concept of “gazing” and the intersection of Eastern and Western literature. Esteemed guests such as Xi Chuan, Ouyang Jianghe, and Guo Wenjing joined Luo Wei in exploring the intertextual relationship between music, poetry, and literature. Xi Chuan praised Luo Wei, saying, “Every note played by Luo Wei can bloom into blooming flowers”. Ouyang Jianghe described Luo Wei as a new generation of pianists with profound humanistic qualities.
Notably, Guo Wenjing, who attended the event, has previously composed a large-scale symphonic work based on Xi Chuan’s long poem “A Long Journey”. Guo Wenjing’s composition was released under the music label NCPA Classics and played during the sharing session.
Luo Wei, who graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and studied under professors Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald, has already achieved remarkable success in his musical career. At the age of 11, he won the first prize in the Polish Chopin Youth International Piano Competition and the German Rachmaninoff Youth International Piano Competition. He also received the “Salon de Virtuosi” Outstanding Young Artist Award in New York at the age of 16. Luo Wei signed with Universal Music in the United States at 17, releasing his first solo album, which garnered attention from the British “Gramophone” magazine. In 2023, Luo Wei became a Steinway Global Artist and was named one of the 19 most noteworthy artists in the world by the New York classical music radio station WQXR.
During the record sharing session, Luo Wei also announced his national tour plan for 2023, titled “Luo Wei: Gazing at the East”. In addition to tracks from his latest album, Luo Wei will incorporate Chinese works such as composer Yao Chen’s “Five Colors” into the tour, further bridging the East and the West through “gazing”.
The NCPA’s “Entering the World in Records” initiative continues to provide a platform for talented young musicians like Luo Wei to showcase their artistry and create meaningful dialogues between music and literature.