The pianist Lang Lang spends a lot of time on airplanes, criss-crossing the globe to play storied venues and perform at some of the biggest events of the 21st century, including the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the coronation of King Charles in London, and, most recently, the long awaited reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. So how does such a gifted artist spend his flight time? Reviewing musical compositions, listening to Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, or getting some much needed sleep? “I always like to look at pictures from the past and nice videos, especially of my son. He’s four years old now, but time really flies,” says Lang. “I love to see when he was born, when we were having his 100-day celebration. I love to watch him on my [flights].”
Lang—who was born in Shenyang, China but educated as a teenager at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia—also founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, which seeks to provide musical education to children and nurture young talent across the United States, China, and Europe. He spoke with Condé Nast Traveler shortly after his most recent concert at Carnegie Hall, among the first shows of his four-continent 2025 tour.
His favorite musical venue in the world:
Carnegie Hall is just glorious. It kind of reminds me of the Roman Colosseum. [I first heard of it] when I was six or seven years old, but of course it felt so far away, both in distance and [talent]. I knew that every great musician played there, and I dreamed big that one day I’d be there. This season, I’m doing my series there. Playing a lot of concerts and getting to integrate myself with the hall, it feels great.
A destination he feels is underrated:
Andorra. I was there two years ago to perform in the mountains, and it’s like a fairy-tale place. It was not hard to get there—about an hour and a half drive from Barcelona or Toulouse, so it’s easy from Spain or France. I had a really nice picnic out in the mountains before the concert, it looks a bit like Switzerland.
How certain modes of transportation make him nostalgic:
It’s mostly airplanes for me now, and the car is a very, very important part of my life. Every day I’m in a car. I’m in a car right now talking to you, on the way to the airport to go to Philadelphia. But the train was very important during the first stage of my life, when I was going back and forth to Beijing from my hometown of Shenyang to study. That was a really long trip at that time, when I was eight or nine years old: 11 hours! With the high-speed train now, it’s only two and a half hours. That kind of transportation is a childhood memory.
His favorite vacation spot:
