From the concerts to the clothes, he’s never been just your average pianist. We catch up with the classical celebrity.

For the biggest classical music star in the known universe, Lang Lang is surprisingly down to earth. Interviewing a famous musician over the phone usually involves having your call redirected through several gatekeepers, who remind you that the musician doesn’t want to talk about X, Y and Z (basically, all the interesting things), and that you’ll only have 20 minutes. So keep the questions brief, please. But Lang Lang isn’t your typical superstar musician. For starters, when you have an interview scheduled, he calls you. I was still trying to get my Dictaphone connected, when my phone unexpectedly started buzzing. “Hello, is that Francis? This is Lang Lang.” I didn’t even know he had my number.

There is a reason why Lang Lang is so eager to get his message out there. Lang Lang is a musician on a mission. Not content with touring the world as a soloist, the Chinese pianist now wants to gather converts along the way. “I like to inspire people to learn music, to learn an instrument,” he says. “As...