Yuanfan Yang (piano) 20/03/2024
The concert will feature one of Schubert’s final poetic masterpieces, Bartók’s rustic and folk-infused Piano Sonata, and a second half dedicated to a mini water-based programme where each piece will flow without a break into one another (just like water) and linked by key.
Franz Schubert Drei Klavierstücke D 946
Béla Bartók Piano Sonata Sz 80
interval
Frédéric Chopin Étude in C major Op 10 No 1 ‘Waterfall’
Gabriel Fauré Barcarolle No 1 in A minor Op 26
Claude Debussy Reflets dans l’eau from Images Book I
Frédéric Chopin Barcarolle in F sharp major Op 60
Franz Liszt Orage from Années de pèlerinage I S 160
Yuanfan Yang Improvisations on Themes and Styles Suggested by the Audience
Yuanfan Yang
Born in Edinburgh, UK, Yuanfan Yang is a First Class Graduate of the Royal Academy of Music (BMus) and the Royal College of Music (MPerf) in London.
Yuanfan is 1st Prize and Audience Prize Winner of the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy (September 2022), and the UK Open International Piano Competition (June 2023).
He is also 2nd Prize in the Hong Kong International Piano Competition (October 2022) where Yuanfan made his concerto debut with Marin Alsop, and 2nd Prize plus Three Special Prizes for Best Classical Sonata, Romantic Work, and Chopin in the First Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition in Slovenia (March 2023).
Earlier achievements include 1st Prize in the Roma International Piano Competition 2018.
Yuanfan has performed throughout the world with leading orchestras including Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Romanian Radio National Symphony Orchestra, the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Cleveland, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Manchester Camerata.
Yuanfan is also a versatile composer and improviser. His Piano Concerto No. 3 in Five Movements and solo piano piece ‘Petite Partita’ won 1st Prize and Gold Medal at the Rachmaninoff International Music Competition 2022 – composition category. In May 2024, Yuanfan will premiere his new Piano Concerto No. 4 ‘Ode to Jing River’ with the Orchestra of Opera North at Wakefield Cathedral, as part of the 60th Anniversary celebration of Wakefield Concert Society.
Yuanfan’s solo debut album Watercolour was released on Orchid Classics to critical acclaim, including 4* from International Piano Magazine.
