Wenting Kang, viola
The Chinese violist Wenting Kang appeared as an “excellent violist” who “possesses a dark glowing sound” in the New York Times after her Marlboro Music Festival tour performance at Carnegie Hall. Kang’s playing also has been lauded as “elegant”, “precise” as well as “pure” and "tone-passionate without ever losing a sense of control" in the Boston Musical Intelligencer. Recently, The Strad described her as “both a standout player and a brilliant arranger” after a performance including her arrangements written for the ensemble-the Imai Viola Quartet.
Kang was the recipient of the 1st Prize in the Tokyo International Viola Competition in 2012. Previously, she had won numerous prizes in events such as the Johannes Brahms International Competition, the Primrose International Viola Competition, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante Competition at New England Conservatory, and National Viola Competition in China.
Kang’s repertoire covers both solo work as well as chamber music ranging from the baroque periods to contemporary compositions.
As a soloist, Kang performed Walton Concerto with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Don Quixote with Misha Maisky and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed the Bartok and Elgar Concertos for viola, Britten “Lachrymae”, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, appearing with orchestras such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Tokyo TOHO Gakuen Orchestra, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
As an avid chamber musician, Kang has been invited to international festivals in the USA, Europe, and Asia, such as Marlboro Music Festival, Steans Institute at Ravinia Festival, Yellow Barn and Monadnock Festivals, Kronberg Academy’s Mit Musik-Miteinander, and the Viola Space Festivals both in Tokyo and Taiwan. Renowned artists, whom she shared the stage with, include Kim Kashkashian, Nobuko Imai, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Lucy Chapman, Paul Katz, Peter Wiley and Marcy Rosen. Kang’s enthusiasm for chamber music is also more recently documented by her becoming a member of the Israeli Chamber Project, the Imai Viola Quartet, and the Dalia String Quartet.
Kang studied at Central Conservatory in Beijing, the New England Conservatory in Boston, later at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, under the guidance of professors such as Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Garth Knox, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, Liangsheng Chen, and Changhai Wang.
From 2014 to the beginning of 2016 Kang was member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Further on, her focus leaned towards teaching and performance of solo and chamber music. In recent years, Kang has taught masterclasses for viola and chamber music in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Japan, Taiwan and China. Currently, Kang is active as assistant professor in the international viola class of Nobuko Imai at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia as well as the associate principal violist of Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid in Spain.