[Theme music playing] ♪ I don't know about you, but at 4, I was eating sand and making dandelion necklaces.

Across the world in Shenyang, China, Lang Lang was sitting down at a baby grand piano for his first recital, and even if 5 years later, he was fired by his teacher for being a hopeless case, that didn't stop him from becoming the world's most popular classical pianist.

Lang Lang believes everyone should be an artist, or maybe already is, and that the ideal age to start piano is somewhere between two and 100.

He proves both points by teaching chords to professional soccer players while the Internet watches.

He's instigated collaborations with Metallica Pharrell, and Herbie Hancock and draws a strong distinction between being an entertainer and being a musician, though he is surely both.

I'm Kelly Corrigan.

This is "Tell Me More," and here's my conversation with educator, prodigy, and free spirit Lang Lang.

♪ ♪ ♪ Hey, thanks a lot.

Pleasure for me.

Yeah, super great to meet you.

Its great honor to be here.

Thank you.

So you won a piano recital when you were 5.

Yeah.

How much practice went into that?

Yeah, so I started playing-- not really playing, but touched the keys-- when I'm 2 1/2, Uh-huh.

and I had a real proper teacher at age 3, so, yeah, that's, like, two years before the first recital.

And your parents are musicians, and was it the kind of thing where the day you were born, they thought, "We're gonna put this kid in the same room with a piano and see if magic happens"?

My father plays erhu, the Chinese violin... Uh-huh.

and my mom loves dance and singing, and so I already had a piano at age of one or something, before my memory starts, and also, the main thing was, all my neighbors were practicing because we lived in kind of a music dorm.

It's not common in the city, but in that little neighborhood, everybody plays piano-- Uh-huh.

it's crazy-- and so every morning, like, 6:00, the kids start practicing.

You can hear it.

Yeah, everybody.

I mean, it like... ♪ Duh ♪ I mean, they don't know it... ♪ Duh ♪ you know, but just starting.

[Sings scale] Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

So at 9, you had a teacher who thought, "You're not worth the trouble.

You're not really gonna make it."

Yeah, so she fires me even before I got into the conservatory, so I was in Beijing to prepare the audition for the best school in China-- Central Conservatory, and somehow, I made this professor angry-- because she was always angry, you know-- and then, yeah, after 6 miserable months of working with her, and she said, "You're no-talent," so she just fired me.

And were you distraught, or were you like, "I don't like you, anyway," or did you believe in yourself at that point?

No.

I was really kind of-- I was really weak at the time, and my father was very pushy, so it was not a good moment.

I actually didn't want to play piano anymore, yeah, at that moment.

Fortunately, we got a new teacher, but we didn't tell him that I was actually with this teacher before, so he didn't know, but he liked me, and but he said, "Why you're so intense, so intense?"

I'm like, "Yeah," I mean, but I didn't tell him I just got fired.

Right.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Right.

"I'm terrified."

Yeah.

It must be hard to do it well if you're terrified or tight.

Yeah.

That's the worst thing because then you are not yourself anymore, and you're supposed to love music, not hate music, and music gives you hope, gives you this beautiful joy.

I mean, music does give you some struggling sometimes because of, you know, some music's not always about happiness, right?

There's some sad music, as well... Sure.

but in general, You should love to play rather than scared and to not, you know, having confident in yourself... Yeah.

and that was a problem, so that's why, you know, from that point on, I hate teachers who is extreme straight to the students.

Of all the years that you've been playing, when did your confidence emerge, or did it emerge and fall and emerge and fall?

I always had quite a good confidence in myself, but sometimes you have more confident, but sometimes if you don't know if you can make it as a career, then your confidence is going down.

And had you ever quit?

Like, in all the years, did you ever say, "I'm not gonna do it anymore"?

Yeah.

I mean, yeah.

I did.

I mean, during that time when I got fired at 9, so I quit for 3 months-- yeah, I did-- and then later, I also one point, I didn't like to play so much because I didn't feel that the future is--you know, of being a pianist is necessary, so, yeah, but very quicky, I changed my-- Your tune.

Yeah.

I just love music.

I cannot let this go.

Yeah, and did you love it from the beginning?

Like, did you think, "There's something about this that is particularly easy for me," or, "I'm falling into flow super easily"?

No.

I never felt music's easy... Uh-huh.

even from the beginning, but I do feel this beautiful emotion attached to me, and I love being on stage.

♪ Life without stage is not a life, I mean, for me.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

What happens when you go on stage?

I feel like I transform somehow to another planet.

I don't know whether in Mars or galaxy or whatever, but I'm not in the reality.

It's something else, and somehow you're in a better world.

Mm.

Yeah.

That's so cool.

Yeah.

Do you remember the first time you thought, "I'll never stop doing this"?

Yeah.

I mean, when a start professionally.

At 17, I was a student at Curtis in Philadelphia, and then one day, one of my favorite pianists-- Andre Watts, the great American pianist-- get some kind of a fever, and so he couldn't do the show, which was the big Ravinia concert, what you call the concert of the century, but that was in 1999, and they're doing this huge gala, and so they had Isaac Stern as the host and then the Chicago Symphony, and they had all the best musicians that night, and then so Andre got sick.

Oh, how awful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was awful for him, good for me, you know, so, yeah, Fair enough.

and I actually called him many times after that to thank him... Oh, God.

and he was like-- Did he stop taking your calls?

I'd be like, "Uh-huh.

OK." Yeah.

We've been, you know-- He has been a great friend and great mentor after, so-- Yeah, so that was kind of the night that I felt, "I'm gonna make it, and this is what I'm gonna do."

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember watching you open the Beijing Olympics.

I remember thinking, "That's either, like, "the thrill of a lifetime or horrifying," and it probably would have to be a thrill for you to be able to do it as well as you can.

That was actually a quite amazing night.

There was a little girl I know.

playing next to me, and I was kind of babysitting her, you know, Uh-huh.

because she always want to get out.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm like, "You know, lot of people watching you today.

Don't run"--ha ha!-- but in the end, she run away anyway, so, I mean, the ice cream didn't work, you know.

I mean, yeah, I said-- Yeah.

It doesn't always.

It doesn't always.

Yeah.

Do you think that competition aids the development of musicianship or somehow cuts against it?

There's a great debate, actually, because when I was a kid, I loved competition.

Mm-hmm.

♪ Lang Lang.

[Applause] Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

You are learning a lot of new pieces, and you know all the other kids are doing, you know.

Otherwise, how do you know where you're good or not?

So you learn from each other, and as a kid, you are not that crazy, you know, with competitions.

You just want to make some friends and-- but then comes to the teenager years and then young adults, right, and then there's a lot of professional competition, right, so, I mean, look, it really depends on what you want.

I mean, if you only want winning the competition, then it's hard to become a real musician because your focus is to win the competition, like when I was a teenager, you know.

Corrigan: Yeah.

Yeah, but if your focus is to use the competition as a step forward... Mm-hmm.

then I think it's OK... Yeah.

because then you use that and to get to the record deal, to get concerts.

Yeah.

You know, then you move, become a professional musician, so it depends on how you think.

And in terms of your growth... Mm-hmm?

you know, that ages two, 3, 4, 5, you just must be learning-- you must be twice as good every year... Yeah.

and then your teenage years, I would bet, would be very explosive.

Is it easy or difficult to get better now?

Now it's harder compared to, you know, let's say from 13 to 17.

You're, like, kind of flying high.

You know, just every year, just you're getting so much knowledge, and then your repertoire is growing so fast and this.

Now, I mean, look, I'm trying to get new challenges every year.

Like, this summer, I did a Spanish repertoire... Mm-hmm.

and then back last year, I did the all-Disney program, all Disney, all new arrangements.

I'm trying to plan ahead of some new adventures.

We have to challenge ourself.

What do you love about Disney music?

I mean, I'm a huge fan of animation... Uh-huh.

and since when I was a little kid, I watch all sort of animation and including Disney, including Tom and Jerry.

It's really wonderful to make all-Disney album, what we called "The Disney Book," but it was also challenge because we have to work 4 years to write all the arrangements.

♪ Wow.

Yeah.

We wanted to make sure this is a classical music style, so therefore, you have to make-- you have to take Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky inside of the Disney melodies.

Right, "Rainbow Connection."

Yeah, so that was a quite challenge.

That's a great challenge, though... Yeah.

Yes.

It was great.

right, is to, like, marry commercial art...

Yes, yes, yes.

and classical art... Yeah.

and you've done a lot of collaborations, like with Metallica and Herbie Hancock and Pharrell.

Yeah.

Like, what do you learn from those?

Is that challenging, or is it just fun?

I love to work with great musicians.

I mean, Herbie was incredible... ♪ and then Metallica, they're crazy and spectacular performer.

And is that part of what you take from that, is, like, to be bigger, to be more spectacular?

Yeah.

I mean, after the concert, I think I know how to shake my head more.

No.

I'm just joking.

Yeah.

Heavy metal is really-- Yeah.

but, you know, when we play Rachmaninov "Third Concerto" or Liszt concerto, it is like rock and roll in a way, you know, so and then my last collaboration I enjoy so much, it was with Coldplay.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, that was something.

♪ ♪ My next one, in a few weeks, I will work with Alicia Keys.

Oh... Yeah, so I'm very excited about that.

So we have a thing that we do in every episode of "Tell Me More" where we ask someone to tell us about someone in your life who's been super powerful and impactful.

Yes.

Who is your plus-one?

I mean, of course, it's my wife, so my wife is Gina Alice, and she's also a very talented musician and songwriter.

Yeah.

We're married, like, 3 years.

We have one little, very cute boy, name's Winston.

Does Winston play piano?

Uh, I mean, he did when he was two weeks.

Ha ha ha!

Yeah.

Yeah.

Did you just hold his hand?

I don't need to hold.

He just, you know-- He just start, yeah, first with just a little toy piano and then with this grand piano, yeah, but now, in a way, I think he likes more dancing in a moment, Uh-huh.

so, yeah, but he always ask me to play for him and to ask Gina to play for him, but he just like to listen, and he start dancing.

So was it love at first sight?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Love at first sight for you, too?

Yes.

It was?

Since I was 4, I also played the piano, so I just thought, "Wow.

I just met Lang Lang.

Wow," and I just had the feeling somehow in my heart, "I know him," yes, like his soul.

I could feel his soul.

I'm just so happy being together with him.

Yeah, so here's the big question.

Does falling in love and getting married and having a child change your music?

Yes.

It does?

It changed a lot, makes my heart more-- I think more soft somehow.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah... How about you?

More grounded, yeah.

Yes.

Of course, it makes every emotion even deeper, and I think music, it always grows with you, and it's always a little bit different, and so it's so connected to life.

And surely, like, if you're in a grim or hard period, your music will sound sad.

There'll be some sadness in it that maybe there wasn't always.

Is that true?

Sure.

It's really-- I mean, artists are even more sensitive, in a way, while we're performing, and you like to observe those feelings, and she's also-- I mean, she's not only a classical pianist, but she's also a songwriter.

I think music is just like a really good friend who understands all different kinds of emotions, and you can connect to yourself, you can connect to other people, and, yeah, I think sometimes if you're a little bit melancholic, music even gets better.

Yeah.

I agree.

Yeah.

It's like a super nonjudgmental friend.

Yes.

It is.

It's, like, sort of there for you, and it can just express your feelings without having to fight through words.

Right.

♪ This is our speed round.

You ready?

Yeah, little bit nervous, but yeah.

Yeah.

Good.

First concert?

5, playing some Chopin waltz.

Normally when we ask people this, mean what's the first concert you went to, not the first concert that you played.

Oh, oh.

Sorry, sorry.

OK. No, but that's good.

Best live performance you've ever seen?

I would say Pavarotti's last concert in Philadelphia, Ohh, can't imagine.

yeah, 2002.

What was your first job, playing piano?

Playing piano, the recital at 5.

I would say that's my first job.

Did you get paid?

I got some good ice cream after.

Did that count?

It totally counts.

Yeah.

What's the last book that blew you away?

I actually-- Recently, I didn't read so much book.

I was reading some fairy tales to my son, so the last one was "Three Pigs."

[Laughs] If you could say 4 words to anyone, who would you address and what would you say?

I would say to my son, I think, "I love you forever."

Aw, that's great.

Yeah.

What can you communicate through music that you can't communicate any other way?

I mean, music is the most genuine artform.

You know, you don't need to speak the language.

You just play the music, and people get so intimate feelings.

It's like telling a story through piano.

I think music has the most incredible healing power.

No matter what mood you're in, music always change the mood and change your thoughts, and it's a most reflected kind of a meditation for us.

And it's so loaded with memory.

Yeah.

Yes, and also-- I mean, you can live your whole life through a song.

Yes, absolutely.

I mean, when I'm playing those big concertos, you always see people crying.

I mean, it's not only because of how you played that moment, because you touched their memory, their past, their loved ones, you know, and somehow it clicks.

Does anything spontaneous happen when you're playing, or are you-- is your goal when you sit down to perform to play it exactly as you practiced it, or are you kind of hoping that there's some dynamic between you and the audience that changes it slightly?

Yeah.

80%, I will follow the score, and I'll follow the practice, you know, the regular practice.

You're replicating your best practice.

Yeah, yeah, but the 20%, I just like to play with the room, let it go, let it come somehow, feel the city little bit, and I sometimes feel the food or just the landscape.

Landscape does help a lot.

Like, this summer, I was in a Salzburg Festival, and to see the mountains and in Lucerne, the lake, you know, and then when I play, I feel it, and sometimes also, the breath of the trees, of the ocean, and those sense, you know, kind of help you a lot.

Do you ever cry when you're playing?

Very rare, yeah, but I did when I was playing the Bach Goldberg Variation at Bach's church in Leipzig.

It's called the St. Thomas Church, and he's actually lying there, you know, so his spirit is still somewhere there, so that was very, very very emotional, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

When you're playing it's such a soaring sensation, I wondered, are you a spiritual person, or is that your religion?

Yeah.

Music's my religion, yeah.

Music's really my religion.

Sometimes, I mean, as a musician, when you play, you're, like, making a little conversation with Mozart or a little conversation with Beethoven, but I do believe that they hide something in their music, and the more you know about it, it's like finding the treasure, and the more you know, it clicks more, and it is very spiritual.

That's so cool.

Yeah.

Do you love teaching?

Yeah.

I mean, I really-- I mean, I really love being a teacher, and I actually have a few schools.

My foundation in America, we have more than 50 schools which we are building our music program in the schools' curriculum.

It's called Keys of Inspiration, and that's another reason that I'm doing this Disney album, because now I can play more songs, familiar songs for children.

What's the goal of your foundation?

Like, why are you in 50 schools putting kids through their paces on the piano?

Like, what do you hope?

I really hope, particularly in the public schools, which, very unfortunately, that there's not enough music school, art class, and so therefore, the kids never had a proper music education.

It's quite sad because I think everyone should have the opportunity to learn music.

Music makes you think much more thoughtful and meaningful, and music makes you much more clear on the direction of what you like to take as a human being in the future, and also music unite our hearts, and if you play some instrument, it's very easy to make friends, or go to any country in the world, you play a song, right after that moment, this magic begins.

What a thrill.

It was really such a joy to talk to you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Same here.

Thank you so much.

[Playing Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No.

5 in F# Minor"] ♪ ♪ If you enjoyed today's conversation, you'll love our episodes with Anna Deavere Smith and David Byrne.

You can listen to every episode on my podcast "Kelly Corrigan Wonders" or watch anytime at pbs.org/kelly.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪