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Historical Piano Concerts Series
About the Musicians

Yi-heng Yang

Yi-heng Yang

Pianist Yi-heng Yang has been noted by The New York Times for “astonishing skill and vividness” and maintains a diverse range of musical activities, from performing on historical period pianos to premiering works by living composers.

Recent recitals include performances at the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands, UK, Sirakawa Gallery in Japan, the Bach Vespers Series at Trinity Lutheran Church in NYC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC, the Utrecht Early Music Festival Fringe, the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe, and the Geelvinck Museum in Amsterdam.

Ms. Yang was awarded first prize at the first Square Piano Competition during the “Amsterdam Virtuosi” Festival 2011 at the Geelvinck-Hinloopen Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and will give a winners concert at the Finchcocks Collection in England just two weeks before her appearance here. She was also winner of The Juilliard School’s Mozart Piano Concerto Competition and the Haddonfield Symphony Concerto Competition, and has been soloist with The New Juilliard Ensemble, the York Symphony Orchestra of Toronto, and The Juilliard Orchestra, in such venues as Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls.

An active chamber musician, Yi-heng is keyboardist for the chamber music groups “Small is Beautiful,” the Clementi Collective of period performers, and the Elbereth Duo. She has appeared at such music festivals as Yellow Barn, The Taos School of Music, The Banff Centre, The Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival, Summergarden at the MoMA, and the Focus! Festival for Contemporary Music.  She is a regular faculty member at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

Yi-heng recently completed her doctorate in piano performance at The Juilliard School as a student of Robert McDonald, and wrote a doctoral paper entitled “Performing Schumann’s Piano Music: Clues from The Clara Schumann School and Period Instruments.” In addition, she earned a Masters degree summa cum laude in fortepiano at the Amsterdam Conservatory, under the tutelage of renowned fortepianist Stanley Hoogland. She has recently given guest lectures on period performance topics at schools such as the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. Past piano teachers include Yoheved Kaplinsky, Julian Martin, Marc Durand, and Sylvia Eckes. She has also studied historical performance practice with Malcolm Bilson, Jaap ter Linden, Menno van Delft, Therese de Goede, Bob van Asperen, Vera Beths, David Breitman, Andrew Willis, and Audrey Axinn.

Yi-heng was a recipient of the Harvey Fellowship (Mustard Seed Foundation), and the Huygens Grant (NUFFIC) by the Dutch Minister of Culture. Many of her performances this season were generously supported by the Worldwide Musicians Fund (Holland). She currently resides in Manchester, England with her husband, double bassist Max Zeugner. Please take the opportunity to visit her web site at  www.yihengyang.com/ .