Program

Full Program (PDF)

About the Artist

Chengcheng Yao began studying the piano at the age of four. She began performing in public at the age of 14, appearing in her first two solo piano recitals at China Conservatory and Central University for Nationalities. In 2007, Chengcheng won the first and special prize at the 71st Steinway International Children and Youth Piano Competition, which resulted in her being invited to perform at the 13th International Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany. In 2011, she won the first prize at the 2nd Pearl River-Kayserburg National Piano Competition in Guangzhou, China. Last year, she won the silver medal of the 2016 Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition of CT in the United States, and the second prize of Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival Piano Competition in Italy.

In addition to her successes in national and international competitions, Chengcheng has appeared in solo recitals throughout China, Germany, Austria, Italy, and the United States. In 2011, she performed concerts of Chinese piano music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Mozarteum in Salzburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, and the Beethoven Center of Vienna as part of a cultural exchange program between those institutions and China Conservatory. One year later, she performed another European concert series of Chinese piano music in Germany, at the China Cultural Center in Berlin, the Steinway “Horowitz” Hall in Hamburg, and the Rostock University of Music and Theatre. In 2014, she accomplished her first debut at Alice Tully Hall in New York City. She has also appeared as a soloist with Xiamen Philharmonic and Hebei Symphony Orchestra, performing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3 and Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 respectively. As a chamber musician, she has appeared in concerts in US, Canada, Italy, Germany, Austria, and China.

After graduating from China Conservatory in Beijing, Chengcheng traveled to New York to study at The Juilliard School with Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. She graduated from Juillard in 2015 with a Master of Music degree. Chengcheng continued her graduate studies at Yale School of Music in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied with Peter Frankl and Hung-Kuan Chen. Yale awarded her a Master of Musical Arts degree in 2017.