Overcoming The Odds (And A Bit of Prejudice, Too)

At 26, New York Philharmonic principal oboist Liang Jang is one of the youngest principal players in an American orchestra, and his meteoric rise through the country’s orchestral ranks serves as a useful analogy for the rise of Chinese-born musicians in Europe and America. But “despite his extraordinary ability and success, Mr. Wang, like many Asian-born musicians, has had to confront preconceptions about his ability to connect with Western classical music.”