Pianist Xiayin Wang (pronounced "sha-in wong") was 9 years old when she was accepted into the Shanghai Conservatory. Every week, she and her mother rode the train from their hometown of Hangzhou to the city — four hours each way — so she could take lessons. That lasted three years until she was old enough to live in the dormitory.

"A lot of the discipline came from my parents," she says. "They made me practice for hours, which was a good thing.
"Discipline is definitely needed as all the techniques are developed at a young age," Wang adds. "If you haven't developed your technique by the time you are a teenager, it's very difficult to have a career."

Interviewing Wang in Fanfare magazine last year, Peter Rabinowitz writes, "It's clear from her performances that she's referring to the kind of discipline that liberates, not the kind that enslaves. For awhile the playing never seems approximate, it nearly always feels spontaneous."

Peninsula audiences are getting a taste of that combination of technique and expressiveness in two Wang recitals. She played the Kimball Theatre in Williamsburg last month, and will perform this Thursday at the Ferguson Center for the Arts. As a pianist, she has both a commanding ability and a nuance of tone," says Victoria Racimo, a Williamsburg producer of artistic events who brought Wang to town. "And as a person, she has a unique freshness that will never tarnish with success. She makes a connection with the audience that's very palpable."

Wang's father was an accomplished player of the Chinese string instrument called the erhu. During a 50-year career, he toured frequently and performed in 22 countries. She began her piano studies at home at age 5.

Her conservatory studies were just as strenuous, she says, with weekly exams and recitals to hone her performances abilities. She won several prizes and played throughout China before making the move to the United States. She chose the Manhattan School of Music because a Shanghai friend was studying there and was accepted after sending in a tape.

If Shanghai helped develop her technique, New York was responsible for the emotional side of her talent.

"The style of teaching here is very different," she says. "Teachers here give you much more freedom and are more open to ideas."

Most of this week's program will be repeated in a Carnegie Hall at the end of the month. She'll play works by Bach, Prokofiev, Scarlatti, Chopin and two of her favorites, Ravel and Scriabin.

"I love lots of colors, different harmonies and sounds in music," she says. "That's what Scriabin and Ravel have in common, and that's mostly what I identify with."

In November, she'll release an all-Scriabin CD on the Naxos label.

"His music is very extreme with such colorful tones," she says. "I love the changes and the different characters.

"I'm very touched by his music, and I think I can do a good job translating it to the audience."