1. Jahja Ling is a conductor, music director and pianist.
16 Facts About Jahja Ling
1. 2.
Jahja Ling is of Hokkien Chinese descent, formerly an Indonesian citizen and is an American citizen.
3.
Jahja Ling was the first conductor of Chinese descent to serve as music director of a major US orchestra.
4.
Jahja Ling was born 25 October 1951 in Jakarta, Indonesia and began to play the piano at age 4.
5.
Jahja Ling studied at the Yayasan Pendidikan Musik in Jakarta.
6.
Jahja Ling was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.
7.
Jahja Ling debuted with The Cleveland Orchestra in 1985, and has conducted the orchestra in 38 consecutive seasons.
8.
Jahja Ling was a member of the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra for 20 years, from 1984 to 2005.
9.
Jahja Ling conducted his final concert as music director in June 2017.
10.
Since 1965 he has been volunteering with the Reformed Evangelical Ministry of Dr Stephen Tong in Jakarta, and in 1978 Tong and Jahja Ling co-founded Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International, where he has served as the Vice President.
11.
On June 15,2012 Jahja Ling conducted famous pianist Lang Lang's 30th birthday concert with the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra at O2 World in Berlin which was attended by more than 10,000 people and televised live in German and Spanish TVs Lang Lang performed with Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony at their annual 2012 OPUS Gala and together at a private event.
12.
Jahja Ling has been guest conductor of all major orchestras in the United States, including the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis, St Paul, Washington DC.
13.
Mr Jahja Ling's recordings include a range of works on the Telarc, Azica Records, and Continuum labels, featuring recent recording of the works by Bright Sheng with the San Diego Symphony as well as performances by the Florida Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, one of which was nominated for a Grammy award.
14.
Jahja Ling's religion is Reformed Protestant; he says that Christianity has mostly inspired him as he is.
15.
Jahja Ling's conversion happened when he was a teenager, before he went to the US.
16.
Jahja Ling is Jessie Chang, a Taiwanese Christian pianist; they have two daughters.