Chinese pianist Lang Lang rehearses with Warsaw Philharmonic for a concert to launch the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the birth of Frédéric Chopin. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese pianist Lang Lang kicked off a worldwide salute to Frédéric Chopin in the composer's native Poland Thursday night with a Warsaw Philharmonic concert that launched yearlong anniversary celebrations.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Polish-French composer, and the accomplished 27-year-old Lang performed some of Chopin's most famous works during the concert, which was broadcast live on Polish television.

Approximately 2,000 events — spanning concerts and recitals, competitions, exhibitions, panel discussions, film screenings and theatrical shows — are slated to take place across a host of cities around the world this year to celebrate the bicentennial of the Romantic maestro's birth.

More than half are scheduled for Poland itself, which is also set to open a new Chopin museum, and transform the composer's birthplace into an cultural and educational centre.

One notable tribute will take place March 1 — Chopin's actual birthdate — with a slew of contemporary virtuoso pianists to play in a live broadcast performance in Warsaw.

Born in Zelazowa Wola to a Polish mother and French father, Chopin was raised in Warsaw, but fled his homeland just ahead of the ultimately failed uprising against the Russians. The musical prodigy spent his adult life living in Paris and performing across Europe.

He died of tuberculois in 1849 at age 39. His heart was removed prior to his burial in Paris's famed Père Lachaise Cemetery and it was eventually returned to Poland, where it was encased in a pillar at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.