Playing with Fire: Yuja Wang

Be immersed in a remarkable musical and visual world alight with life and wonder, that centres around a virtual piano performance by Yuja Wang.

At once intimate and personal, monumental and transformative, surrealistic animations and spatial audio combine with a precise acoustic recreation of a live piano performance by Yuja. All thanks to the self-playing technology of a Steinway Spirio piano, which records and reproduces the pianist’s keystrokes – synchronised with the holographic fingers of her virtual self. Yuja’s personally selected repertoire showcases the expressive creativity of art and music. And the stunning music and visuals explore fire as the spark of human imagination: feel the divine, transcendent light of Bach and the primordial, revolutionary blaze of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, illuminated by the works of great poets and painters. In response, the award-winning writer and director Pierre-Alain Giraud has crafted a transformative visual and sonic world in collaboration with artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. 

The grand narrative of Playing with Fire is intertwined with Yuja’s personal story. By sharing her thoughts and emotions as she plays, Yuja invites audiences into her mind, and paints a portrait of her path from a young pianist in China to a world-renowned virtuoso. Yuja Wang is an Opus Klassik- and Grammy-award-winning pianist, whose charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence has established her place among the world’s leading classical musicians.

*Please note that Playing with Fire does not feature Yuja Wang in person. The experience is a virtual concert featuring a pre-recorded avatar of Yuja and her recital, presented in an immersive environment.