By Stephen Stirling
Flushing’s young musicology all-star has spent the last year ping-ponging through Europe, but on a recent trip to his home borough of Queens he said nothing could possibly match New York City.
Christopher Wang, a child prodigy on the violin who spent most of his adolescence in Flushing, has trotted across the globe in recent years seeking out ways to better perform and understand classical music.
But in an interview with TimesLedger Newspapers shortly after giving a guest lecture and concert at the Whitney Museum in Manhattan, Wang said he still longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City and has his eye on returning home to teach.
“The people of Queens are the best,” Wang said. “There’s a certain harmony, courtesy and support that’s rare to find anywhere else.”
Wang has spent the balance of the last four years in Germany, studying under Dresden University’s chairman of musicology, Dr. Hans-Gunter Ottenberg. His recently published research examining the city of Dresden’s musical contributions from the 17th century have won him critical acclaim. Wang is currently undertaking an international series of lectures supporting it.
“It’s really just shown me what it takes to be a top-notch musicologist,” Wang said. “It’s just a never-ending pursuit. It’s like the old saying about an onion, when you open one layer there’s just more and more and more.”
As a Flushing resident Wang attended Flushing High School in the late 1980s and New York University in the early 1990s. Wang received several cash donations from members of the Flushing Rotary Club, a charitable organization that targets needy cases in the community. The donations enabled him to showcase his talent to the world by entering competitions and traveling around the globe to perform.
Wang currently has plans to continue his lecture series in Europe for the foreseeable future and will also be performing at several classical music festivals in France and Germany in the coming months. But he said he hopes to return to Queens College before long to take an assistant professorship.
Wang said he also hopes to return to Flushing Town Hall during the coming concert season to play the violin for the community that supported him during his youth.
“I would love to return soon,” he said. “There’s nothing like Queens. I enjoy Europe and Germany very much, but it’s always great to be back. Home is here.”
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
