Skambantis Čiurlionio Vilnius | Jianing Kong | „Dialogai su Čiurlioniu“

We invite you to a summer concert featuring Chinese pianist Jianing Kong.

Concert programme:
M.K.Čiurlionis – prelude g-moll, VL 310, prelude B-dur, VL 186, prelude VL 188, prelude B-dur VL 257
F. Chopin – Sonata No. 2 b-moll, op.35
M.K.Čiurlionis – “Jūra” a series of small landscapes, VL 317, ballad fis-moll, VL 272a
F. Chopin – Sonata No.3 in h-moll, op.58

Chinese pianist Jianing Kong has performed and received critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. He is a laureate of many prestigious international piano competitions, such as the 2008 Tunbridge Wells International Competition for Young Concert Artists, the 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition, the 2013 Valais International Piano Competition, the 2014 Scottish International Piano Competition, and the 2015 Santander Piano Competition. He was a finalist in the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition and won the Ignaz Friedman Prize for the best semi-final recital and the prize for the best Mozart concerto.
In 2003, Jianing made his debut in London, performing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concert with the Purcell Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then, he has performed at festivals and major venues in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, including the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John’s Smith Square, St. James’ Piccadilly, Draper’s Hall, Steinway Hall (London), Brighton Festival, Chipping-Campden Festival, Leeds Town Hall, Mitchell Library (Glasgow), Gasteig (Munich), Salle Cortot (Paris), Bechstein Center (Frankfurt), and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
As a soloist, Jianing has performed with the Halle Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, the Scottish National Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic. In 2008, in collaboration with the Royal College of Music Sinfonietta, Jianing performed the world premiere of Harris Kitto’s “Vessel Tale”. He was also invited to perform Beethoven’s Triple Concert at the Purcell School’s 50th anniversary gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall, conducted by Paul Daniel.

Before the pandemic, during the 2018-2019 season, Jianing went on a few tours in Spain that got a lot of buzz, playing at the biggest concert halls in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Santander, and Bilbao, and also had a really successful tour in New Zealand. In 2020, he embarked on an epic project to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth: to record all of the composer’s sonatas.
Jianing began his musical career at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, and in 2002 received a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School, where he studied under legendary British pianist Ronald Smith. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s and master’s degree and a prestigious performer’s diploma. At the Royal College of Music, he studied under Ruth Nye, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, and Dmitri Alexeev. He was also regularly consulted by the renowned Chinese pianist Fou Ts’ong.

In addition to his busy concert schedule, Jianing enthusiastically teaches and works with the younger generation of musicians. In 2011, he began working in the piano department at Purcell School, and in 2018, he was appointed professor of piano at the Royal College of Music in London—the first Chinese person to hold such a position.

Tickets can be purchased here.
On 14 August, Jianing Kong invites you to musical dialogues with Čiurlionis in Vilnius – let’s meet at Čiurlionis’ house!