Yuja Wang responds to “harmful” criticism for wearing sunglasses on stage after being “humiliated” at Vancouver airport.
Chinese virtuoso pianist Yuja Wang had been in Vancouver on Friday for a concert at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts with the Vancouver Recital Society. During the sold-out show, Wang wore sunglasses and appeared visibly upset. She did not oblige an encore, leaving some in the audience to wonder what had happened to make the pianist uncharacteristically angry.
Canadian conductor Tania Miller, who had attended the concert, took to her Facebook page to write a post criticizing Wang for what she said was effectively shutting the audience out.
Last night I attended a Vancouver Recital Society concert with Yuja Wang performing. I was looking forward to hearing her perform. When she walked out on stage with sunglasses and a direct approach to the piano, quick bow and immediate performance with no acknowledgement of the audience, I thought it was quirky. Some of the audience tittered at the thought that this was some sort of cool new dress code.
But with each subsequent work that she performed, she stood up, bowed quickly without a smile, and when she left the stage she walked with clear body language that shut the audience out. When the audience continued to clap to bring her back out on stage, she refused. The effect was shocking. As each subsequent work was performed and this pattern continued, it became clear that she was shutting the door on her audience.
Miller went on to offer some advice to Wang:
I heard later that she had trouble with the Canadian border getting into Canada. She was obviously angry. But Yuja Wang, you must not forget that the music is the most important treasure. And that some are bestowed with the ability to share it and it is an honour and a blessing to do so. Your innocent audience, some donning masks to protect themselves from the potential Coronavirus, came to be in your presence for this sold-out concert, and to hear the music and extraordinary talent that you had to share.
Instead, they experienced the rejection of an artist withholding the permission to share in the feeling, transcendence and the shared emotion of the beauty, joy, and humanity of music.
The post has since been removed.
Norman Lebrecht was first to break the story on Slipped Disc, prompting vigorous debate in the comment section about the appropriateness of Wang’s demeanour onstage, and Miller’s subsequent criticism.
Wang later responded via her Instagram page, calling the criticism “harmful”. She explained that the reason for the sunglasses and cold demeanour was because she had experienced a “humiliating and deeply upsetting” detainment at the Vancouver airport, where she was questioned for over an hour by security and customs officials. She had also been worried she would miss her recital.
Wang had reportedly been crying before the concert and wore sunglasses on stage to hide her “visibly red and swollen” eyes.
Tania Miller has since responded with an apology to both Wang and her fans:
The Vancouver Recital Society issued this statement:
We are so grateful to Yuja Wang for being the consummate professional during her all too brief time in Vancouver on Friday evening. We have received so many comments from patrons who attended the recital, glowing about how wonderfully she performed and asking for her return. It saddens us to read all of the mean-spirited commentary online and we want to make it known that the VRS has nothing but the highest regard for Yuja as a person and an artist. All too often, people forget that musicians too, are human. We all have good and bad days and it is a testament to her strength and character that she chose to press on despite the terrible treatment she received. We are sharing her words describing her experience, and ask that everyone take a step back and try to imagine how they might have handled a similar experience.
#LUDWIGVAN
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