Lang Lang will have his last appearance in the heartwarming series during the show\u2019s Christmas special, which will feature the talented pianists from season 2 as they return to the train station to perform their favourite festive songs to commuters.<\/p>\n
The new season, which is set to air next year, will see Lang Lang pass the musical baton onto celebrated singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Batiste.<\/p>\n
Batiste has worked with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey, and in 2020, he was nominated for an Oscar for the song It Never Went Away in Pixar\u2019s Soul<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so happy to be a mentor on The Piano and to witness the pianists for the new series express themselves on the instrument I\u2019ve dedicated my life to,\u201d Batiste said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis show will bring together my unique history of performing in both train stations and concert halls. No matter where, I always have believed that music at its best creates community and brings folks together in divided times.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be a massive joy to do just that all around the UK train stations with the piano and new talent.<\/p>\n \u201cIn collaboration with Mika, an incredible songwriter and musician, and Claudia with her own inimitable style, I can\u2019t wait for all the thrilling musical experiences ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Due to international commitments, Lang Lang has had to step down as a mentor for season 3, but noted he is \u201cdelighted\u201d for Batiste as he joins the show.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cBeing a mentor on The Piano and spending time with the talented pianists has been a true joy. The level of talent I have witnessed has been phenomenal, and it has been a privilege to see the love for playing the piano across the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cI am going to miss Mika and Claudia terribly, but am very much looking forward to being reunited with them later this year filming the Christmas special.\u201d<\/p>\n In season 3, Claudia Winkleman, Mika and Batiste will trawl the nation\u2019s train stations, and for the first time, they will visit an airport!<\/p>\n Ian Katz, Channel 4\u2019s chief creative officer, said: \u201cAfter helping to establish the Piano in just two series as one of the country\u2019s best loved and most joyous TV shows, Lang Lang leaves big shoes to fill \u2013 but if anyone can fill them it is Jon Batiste, an astonishing musician as accomplished playing a Beethoven concerto as creating hits with Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p> Season 2 of The Piano drew to a close earlier this month, with the seven finalists all taking centre stage in front of a live audience.<\/p>\n The finale episode saw Brad named as the winner<\/a>, with Mika saying he was \u201cone person in particular who opened a door on to a world that we had never been to before, and left us particularly wanting more\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI really just want to show that us care kids can still do stuff,\u201d Brad said of his win.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just need to be pushed and around the right people, and thank you so much for appreciating my music.\u201d<\/p>\n The Piano season 2 is available to stream in full on Channel 4 now.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our Entertainment<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n Lang Lang will bid farewell to the series in an exciting Christmas special later this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":53390,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/the-piano-announces-lang-langs-exit-confirms-grammy-winning-replacement-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Lang Lang will bid farewell to the series in an exciting Christmas special later this year.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/53389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Jon](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/jon-batiste-9385cb6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Jon")
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