“A first-rate pianist who isn’t afraid of challenges,” (Fanfare) Chinese-American pianist Clara Yang is currently Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Piano Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has performed in major venues across the United States and in Europe and China. As a concerto soloist, she performed with renowned conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Grant Llewellyn, Jeff Tyzik, Carl St. Clair, and Long Yu. Her solo album Folding Time (Albany Records) won Global Music Awards Gold Medal, and it was selected as one of Best of 2016 by American Record Guide. In the last season, she performed a world premiere of Chen Yi’s piano concerto with the China Philharmonic Orchestra in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and a US premiere of the work in the Carolina Performing Arts series. She also performed Philip Glass etudes alongside Mr. Glass and other renowned artists in the Glass at 80 festival.

Dr. Yang has given solo recitals, masterclasses, and lectures in major conservatories and universities, including the Musical College of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, King’s College London, the Liceu Conservatory in Spain, the Central Conservatory and the China Conservatory in Beijing, the Shanghai Conservatory, and the Shenzhen University in China. Dr. Yang studied with Nelita True at Eastman (DMA), Claude Frank at Yale School of Music (MM, Artist Diploma), and John Perry at USC Thornton School of Music (BM). A sought-after teacher, her students have won top prizes in state, national, and international competitions.

PROGRAM

Muzio Clementi

Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 24, No. 2                        

Zhou Long

Pianobells (2013)

Claude Debussy

Preludes, Book II

Feux d’artifices

Chen Yi

Northern Scenes (2015)

Phil Young

Reflection on a Tang Poem (2015)

Sergei Prokofiev     

Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

1. Allegro inquieto
2. Andante caloroso
3. Precipitato