Berklee to Honor Wang Leehom, King of Chinese Pop, at Symphony Hall

Berklee students will celebrate Chinese-American singer-songwriter, movie star, producer, and director Wang Leehom with a program of his globally popular music, and Wang himself will join them on stage to perform selections and to receive an honorary doctorate from Berklee.

September 22, 2016

Chinese-American singer-songwriter Wang Leehom, the 1999 Berklee alumnus known as the King of Chinese Pop, returns to Boston for a special event, Berklee Presents the Music of Wang Leehom, at Boston's Symphony Hall on Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the Symphony Hall box office and at BSO.org.

Wang will perform select songs on stage with an international cast of students presenting highlights from his catalogue. Berklee President Roger H. Brown will bestow an honorary Doctorate of Music degree upon Wang during the concert, which will be directed by Berklee's Ken Zambello as part of the college's Signature Series. Berklee is also establishing a scholarship in Wang Leehom's name.

Wang is the best-selling Mandarin-language musician of his generation. His songwriting revolutionized contemporary Chinese music by infusing pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and classical with traditional Chinese music, from aboriginal folk to Beijing opera. His albums sell millions of copies around the world. Among his many honors are multiple Golden Melody Awards, the Taiwanese answer to the Grammy Awards. Wang has expanded his broad appeal by writing and recording with a range of artists, from Tony Bennett to Avicii. He boasts more than 60 million followers on social media.

Watch Berklee students perform a Wang Leehom medley:

"While at Berklee, I fell in love with Symphony Hall. I went as often as possible,” says Wang. “But this time, I'll be on stage, receiving an honorary doctorate and performing with talented students. There are so many methods of learning music, some archaic, some arcane. But when people talk about the Berklee method, everyone knows it's the real deal. This is a 'pinch-me' moment!"

Wang is also a record producer, film director, and movie star. Critics have praised his acting in releases such as Ang Lees’s thriller Lust, Caution; Michael Mann's recent cyberthriller Blackhat, and Love in Disguise, a romantic comedy that Wang also directed and co-wrote.

A native of both the Eastern and Western worlds and an alumnus of Williams College, Wang is also a cultural ambassador, bringing Chinese music and culture to English-speaking audiences across the globe.

Listen to Wang Leehom’s “落葉歸根” (“Falling Leaf Returns to Roots”):

Allen Bush is director of Media Relations at Berklee. Media inquiries: abush@berklee.edu.