© 2025 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Secrets to a Lang Lang life: Advice on improving — Tuesday

This week, Christy has fifteen cohosts, each of whom is a talented pianist and part of the Lang Lang Young Scholars Program.

Hear today's full episode by clicking "Listen" above or from your preferred podcast app.

Lang Lang is a piano superstar who is not only a very popular concert pianist but also a great advocate for training young musicians through the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. The Lang Lang Young Scholars Program is part of the foundation.

Pianist Lang Lang in
Pianist Lang Lang inside Classical IPR studios.

Yesterday we talked about what some of the talented pianists were NOT good at, like dance and basketball. Today we'll get great advice from Alex, Julian, and JingXing about how to become better at one thing that you're interested in mastering.

Our Intermezzo cohosts (and Lang Lang Young Scholars) Alex Liu, Julian Zhu and JingXing Wang.
Our Intermezzo cohosts (and Lang Lang Young Scholars) Alex Liu, Julian Zhu and JingXing Wang.

Their tips—"stay curious," "try not to break your daily practice streak," and "avoid distractions"—are helpful not just for learning piano, but for mastering almost anything.

Intermezzo web bonus: Advice on improving

And no one embodied those habits more powerfully than pianist Paul Wittgenstein.

After losing his right arm in World War I, he didn’t give up. Instead, he retrained himself to play with only his left hand, even commissioning new works from composers like Maurice Ravel.

His comeback is a powerful reminder that with time, planning and collaboration, even the worst setbacks can lead to something extraordinary.

This week's Mystery Melody

It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out with likely not enough information. It relates to our topic. We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.

If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.

Christy L'Esperance is Classical IPR's morning host and producer.