24-year-old Chinese American Pianist Eric Lu Made His Chicago Symphony Orchestra Debut

On the evening of October 6th, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed the Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky Ravel, winning audience’s standing ovation in the end.

The 24-year-old Chinese American pianist Eric Lu made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 conducted by Riccardo Muti, replacing Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini.

In the year of 2018, Lu, at just 20, won the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, becoming the first Chinese top-prize winner in 55 years of the competition. The Guardian hailed him as“a veritable poet of the keyboard”, who “already seems to possess the magic touch of early Leeds laureates Murray Perahia and Radu Lupuandis one of the most exciting prospects in a long time.”

What’s worth mentioning is that, Lu’s senior Lang Lang, who also graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, has the same life experience of Lu’s.

In 1999, Lang Lang, 17, performed Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto together with Chicago Symphony Orchestrain Ravinia Festival, taking the place of André Wattsdue to his poor health condition.

It’s known that Eric Lu grew up in America, but his mother is a native from Shanghai, China while his grandparents come from EmeishanCity, Sichuan, China. As for his special identity, Lu said: “The world has witnessed how successful Chinese pianists can be, and more and more examples have proved the world that Chinese musicians can be as proficient as any other musicians from the world.”