Tuesday 4 February 2.00 pm
Yuanfan Yang (piano)
'An improvised recital'
Yuanfan Yang is well-known for his concert improvisations where audiences are invited to suggest any theme/tune and a style and he creates an original piece of music on the spot, based on those suggestions. This type of concert was very common in the 19th century but few musicians today would be capable of such improvisatory skills. It will be a unique and special afternoon.
Born in Edinburgh and based in Leeds, Yuanfan Yang is establishing himself as one of the most interesting and distinctive musical voices of today, as a multi-faceted award-winning pianist, composer, and improviser. Recently awarded the International Artist Diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music, Yuanfan previously graduated first-class from London's Royal College of Music, and Royal Academy of Music. His interpretations of Schumann and Liszt ‘rivalled those of the young Ashkenazy' ( International Piano Magazine) , and his own compositions have been praised for their ‘soulful poignancy' in The Observer . Yuanfan's diverse repertoire, from Baroque to the Contemporary, reflects his broad musical interests, which in turn are also reflected through his own original music. Alongside instrumental and vocal music (not limited to classical), Yuanfan has composed four full-scale piano concertos which have been performed throughout China, France, Russia and the UK.
Highlights from the past season include concerto debuts with the BBC Philharmonic (Ye's Concerto of Life – recorded for BBC Radio 3), Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 – live-streamed on Medici.tv), and the Orchestra of Opera North, the latter of which he appeared as concerto soloist for the premiere of his own Piano Concerto No. 4 ‘Ode to the Jing River' . He also performed his concerto with Manchester Camerata at Manchester's Stoller Hall in October 2024. The previous season saw Yuanfan make debuts at Sydney Opera House, Brighton Festival, Beaminster Festival, St George's Bristol, and Milano Auditorium. Yuanfan's extensive musical palate also manifests through his signature improvisations, featuring as concert encores, where audiences are invited to suggest any theme/tune (e.g. famous film/tv themes, folk songs, pop, operatic or other classical themes) and a style (e.g., Beethoven, jazz, musical, rock, waltz) and Yuanfan would create an original piece of music on the spot, based on those suggestions.
Yuanfan's numerous accolades in performance include 1 st Prize and Audience Prize of the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy (September 2022), and 1 st Prize at the UK International Piano Open Competition (June 2023). In July 2023, Yuanfan became the first British laureate of the Sydney International Piano Competition in more than 40 years since David Owen Norris and Martin Roscoe in 1981.
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