About Yuanfan
Born in Edinburgh and based in Leeds, Yuanfan Yang is establishing himself as one of today’s most interesting and distinctive voices as an award-winning multi-faceted pianist, composer, and improviser. 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.
Pianistically, Yuanfan’s repertoire reflects a broad range of musical styles, correlating with his signature improvisations and own original music. Alongside instrumental and vocal works (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 appearances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1), 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 northern England premiere of his own Piano Concerto No. 4 ‘Ode to the Jing River’. He also performed his fourth concerto with Manchester Camerata at Manchester’s Stoller Hall in October 2024, and the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in August 2025. The previous season saw Yuanfan make debuts at Sydney Opera House, Brighton Festival, St George’s Bristol, and Milano Auditorium.
Yuanfan’s improvisational craft features regularly in his concerts, where audiences are invited to suggest any theme/tune (e.g., famous film/tv themes, folk songs, pop, opera 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. Due to the popularity, Yuanfan has amassed nearly 50,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, where his videos have reached several million views.
Yuanfan has collected over 30 accolades in piano performance, most recently 1st Prize in the Ricard Vines International Piano Competition 2025, and 1st Prize in the James Mottram International Piano Competition 2025. Previously, he won 1st Prize and Audience Prize of the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy (September 2022), 2nd Prize plus Special Prizes for Best Classical Sonata, Best Romantic Work and Best Work by Chopin in the First Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition in Slovenia (March 2023) and 1st 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.
He has appeared as concerto soloist with many leading orchestras including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Romanian Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata Orchestra, Bristol Symphony Orchestra, Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Opera & Dance Drama Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Weimar Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra.
As a composer, Yuanfan’s work has been broadcast on BBC 2, BBC 4 and BBC Radio 3. Earlier works were winners in the BBC Proms Young Composers’ Competition, the Golden Key International Composition Competition, the EPTA UK Composers Competition, the National Centre for Early Music Composers’ Award 2013, and the Royal Academy’s Alan Bush Composition Competition 2016.
Yuanfan’s Piano Concerto No. 1 ‘The Wilderness’, written for piano and full orchestra at 17 years old, premiered in Qianjiang, China. A musical depiction of the synonymously titled stage drama by the renowned Chinese dramatist Cao Yu, this concerto was chosen for substantial funding in 2017 by the China National Arts Fund, enabling eight public performances with the China National Orchestra of Theatre & Dance throughout several Chinese cities between 2018-2019. In 2022, his ‘Piano Concerto No. 3 in Five Movements’ and his ‘Petite Partita’ for solo piano won 1st Prize & Gold Medal in the composition category of the Rachmaninoff International Music Competition, and was premiered with the State Symphony Orchestra ‘Novaya Rossiya’ at the Philharmonia-2 in Rachmaninoff Concert Hall and the Great Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Forthcoming works include an opera commissioned by Bradford Opera Festival with libretti by Naomi S Chan, as well as a new piano piece to be published by Forsyths Music in aid of the Help Musicians UK charity.
Yuanfan’s debut album Watercolour featuring an eclectic range of piano music alongside own compositions was released on Orchid Classics to critical acclaim, including 4* from International Piano Magazine. Awarded International Artist Diplomas from the Royal College of Music in 2023, and the Royal Northern College of Music in 2024, Yuanfan previously graduated first-class from the Royal Academy of Music (BMus), and the Royal College of Music (MMus) in London.
In September 2026, Yuanfan was honoured to be appointed a Professor of Improvisation at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in a role that was created specifically for him.