Andrew J. Yang (USA/Iceland),
Artistic Director

Deemed by The San Francisco Examiner as "a prodigy, [running] the emotional gamut from brooding introspection to manic exuberance”, American pianist and composer, Andrew J. Yang, has an active international performance career across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Yang is currently based in Patreksfjörður, a small town in the Westfjords region of northwest Iceland, where he teaches on the piano and violin faculty at Tónlistarskóla Vesturbyggðar, and on piano faculty at Tónlistarskóli Tálknafjarðar. Yang is the founder and artistic director of the International Westfjords Piano Festival and the co-founder of the Icelandic Schumann Society. Recent engagements have included solo recitals for major festivals and venues such as at the Mozarthaus in Vienna, Murphy Recital Hall in Los Angeles, North Carolina Museum of History for the Paderewski Festival in Raleigh, Krakow Jewish Cultural Center, and the Hoheikan in Sapporo in Japan. Yang has also performed in most of the major New York venues including Victor Borge Hall, Carnegie Hall, Museum of Modern Art, Doctorow Center of the Arts, Steinway Hall, and the German Consulate in NYC. ​

 

Yang was recently awarded the top prize at the 30th FLAME International Piano Competition in Paris, France. In 2018, he was awarded the "White Rose" Medal of Honor from the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, for musical excellence. Yang was a finalist in the Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Piano Competition in New York City and has also been awarded various prizes and awards at the Metropolitan International Piano Competition, Euregio Piano International Competition in Germany, Five Towns Piano Competition, International Heida Hermanns Piano Competition, Thaviu-Issac Piano Competition, Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, Evanston Music Club Competition, and the San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. He was a semifinalist at the 2022 International American Paderewski Piano Competition, 2020 International Campillos Piano Competition (Spain), and the 2014 International Crescendo Music Awards (Oklahoma). Yang's performances have been heard over radio broadcast on WUSF 89.7 and WIOX 93.1, and television broadcast on N1 Neiderosterreich (Austria).

 

Lauded as "inspiring, drawing the audience into a spell" by Geilenkirchener Zeitung (Germany) and regarded by Meinbezirk (Austria) as "a young American pianist of special class", Yang creates a deep connection with audiences through his personally involved and philosophical approach to music. Julian Dawson, Former Associate Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera said of Yang: "He has a remarkable talent, [with an] innate musical understanding combined with a fine technical facility." Audrey Axinn, faculty at Mannes and Juilliard, remarks: “[Yang is] a special musician [and] an extremely talented and accomplished pianist. His playing is consistently soulful and poetic; he plays with power and polish”. ​

 

Born and raised in California (U.S.A.), Yang’s unbounded energy and disdain for sleep led his parents to enroll him in many sports and extracurricular activities, including piano lessons at the age of five with Sumi Nagasawa. After taking a break from piano, he rediscovered a passion for playing the piano at the age of 13 when he began studying with an important musical influence and mentor to date, William Wellborn, at the San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory Division. Yang then received a B.A. in Economics and B.M. in Piano Performance in the five-year dual-degree program at Northwestern University as a student of James Giles. Upon graduation with a M.M. in Piano Performance from Mannes School of Music where he received the 2017 Steinway & Sons Award, a top distinction given to an outstanding pianist which came with a monetary award sponsored by Steinway. In 2019, Yang began studies with Antoinette Perry at USC Thornton School of Music, pursuing a D.M.A. doctoral degree on full tuition scholarship and stipend as a graduate teaching assistant. Other teachers and mentors include Ruth Slenczynska, Dang Thai Son, Audrey Axinn, Julian Dawson, and Adam Wibrowski. He has also received numerous scholarships to study and perform at many summer festivals, including the Berkshire High Peaks Festival, Austrian International Piano Festival and Seminar, Krakow Piano Summer, Academy of Fortepiano Performance, Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, Gijon International Piano Festival, Centre d’Arts Orford, and Banff Centre. ​

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Specializing in the music of R. Schumann, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Prokofiev, and Schubert, Yang in recent years has also forayed deeply into the music of Liszt, Scriabin, Granados, Albéniz, Mompou, Scarlatti, and Gubaidulina. In addition, he works extensively with two of the most luminary and important composers of today: Myung Hwang Park, currently studying at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Thierry Escaich, and South African Braam van Eeden, a student of Lowell Liebermann. Park’s Echoes from no man's lake (2018) and Grandioso (2017), and van Eeden’s Ten Miniatures (2016) were dedicated to Yang. In 2015, Yang gave the world premiere of solo piano works by Stephen Kleiman at Ruggles Hall (Chicago), commissioned by the Newberry Library. In 2017, Yang performed John Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in NYC) with Bang on a Can. He has also worked on improvisation with Grammy-award winning classical/jazz pianist, Uri Caine. In 2021, Yang commissioned Myung Hwang Park to write a new solo piano work.

 

A former competitive athlete, Yang pursued an amateur boxing career, training out of John's Boxing Gym in the Bronx, NY, with "Shabazz" Lorenzo Sidberry, coached of multiple IBF world champions. Yang also trains M.M.A., most recently at Modern Martial Arts and Fitness in Pasadena, C.A., with Justen Hamilton and Savannah Em. He was on the Northwestern Boxing Team (2010-2011) and his high school basketball and badminton teams as an all-county athlete. In addition, Yang is a classically trained violinist and an amateur singer, guitarist, and producer. He played violin in Peninsula Youth Orchestra for almost ten years and sang in the Northwestern University Chapel Choir. Yang was the coordinator of the inaugural SFZP International Fortepiano Project and Competition in New York City. When not practicing piano or composing, he enjoys watching (almost) every UFC fight card, reading, and cooking Mexican, Italian, and Indian cuisine.