Program

Composer Work Year
Johann Sebastian Bach Partita No. 1 in B-flat major, BWV 825 1731
Claude Debussy Images, Book 2, L. 111 1907
Intermission
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 1820
Johannes Brahms Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35 1863

Full Program (PDF)

About the Artist

Chengcheng Yao

Chengcheng Yao

Chengcheng Yao was born in the Chinese province of Hebei. She began studying music and playing piano when she was four years old. At sixteen, Ms. Yao performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Hebei Symphony Orchestra. The performance was a resounding success and won critical acclaim. She has since performed as a soloist in numerous major venues, including Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Steinway Hall in Hamburg, National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Beethoven Center and University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, China Cultural Center in Berlin, and the University of Toronto.

Her awards include the Elizabeth Parisot Prize at Yale University (2017), Second Prizes at Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition (2016), Virtuoso & Belcanto Piano Competition (2016) and the KAWAI™ National Piano Competition (2007), and First Prizes at Kayserburg National Piano Competition (2011), YAMAHA™ Piano Competition (2009) and the Steinway™ International Piano Competition (2007).

Chengcheng completed her Bachelor of Music degree at China Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Min Li. She holds two masters degrees from Juilliard and Yale School of Music, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, Peter Frankl, and Hung-Kuan Chen. Currently a doctoral candidate at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, she studies with Yong Hi Moon and previously with Leon Fleisher.