Yuanfan Yang - Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor - BBC Young Musician 2012 - Grand Final

1st movt: 0:24 2nd movt: 13:24 3rd movt: 19:57 Full performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 in the BBC Young Musician 2012 Grand Final, performed by 15 year-old Yuanfan Yang with Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Kirill Karabits. Recorded live in May 2012 at the Sage Gateshead. Hailed as 'a giant of the keyboard' (John Amis, Music Opinion), 16 year old pianist Yuanfan Yang has impressed audiences and critics by performing with 'the assurance and feeling that would have been the envy of many high ranking soloists twice his age' (Peter Harrison, Yorkshire Times), as well as possessing an ability to 'make the piano sound more than human' (Milos Karadaglic on Yuanfan's performance in the BBC Young Musician 2012 Grand Final). Born in Edinburgh, Yuanfan began learning the piano when he was 6 at the Horsforth Music Centre in Leeds before becoming a member of the Yorkshire Young Musicians. He passed Grade 8 with distinction at the age of 8 and achieved a Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (DipABRSM) when he was 10. He started at Chetham's School of Music in 2008, studying piano with Dr Murray McLachlan. Yuanfan has performed at major venues including the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the Leeds Town Hall, the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, the Manchester Bridgewater Hall, the Cadogan Hall in London, the Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, the Cathedral House in Huddersfield, and the main halls of Leeds University, Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Leeds College of Music. He has performed for many major music societies throughout the country, and has performed concertos by Mozart, Chopin, Gershwin, Grieg, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky with many leading orchestras including the Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the City of Leeds Youth Orchestra, the Kirklees Youth Orchestra, the Leeds Sinfonia, the Chetham's Symphony Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata. Forthcoming events so far for this year include solo recitals for the Osprey Music Society and the Macclesfield Music Society. Next year's concerto appearances include a performance of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto 'Emperor' with the Liverpool Mozart Players in February, and the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in March. Yuanfan has won many competitions including the Keyboard Category of the BBC Young Musician 2012 (then as a Grand Finalist), the 2010 RNCM James Mottram International Piano Competition (under 19), the 2009 Manchester International Piano Concerto Competition for Young Pianists (age 16 and under) and the 2009 Ryszard Bakst Chopin Prize (Junior division). He was awarded the Walter Todds Bursary for his performance at the BBC Young Musician 2010 Keyboard Category Final. 2010 also saw him win both category and overall prize at the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) UK Piano Competition. Most recently, Yuanfan won 3rd Prize in the Minnesota International E-Piano Competition. At Chetham's Yuanfan also studies composition with Dr Jeremy Pike. His 'Fantasy in G' for piano was broadcast on BBC Two in 2008 and his arrangement of 'Scarborough Fair' was premiered in the BBC Young Musician 2010 Keyboard Category Final. His piano composition 'Waves' won both category and overall award in the EPTA UK Composition Competition 2011 and was 'Highly-Commended' in the BBC Proms Composers Competition 2011. His 'Haunted Bell' won first prize in the Junior Group of the Golden Key International Piano Composition Competition in 2012. He performed this work as part of his BBC Young Musician 2012 Category Final and Semi-Final recitals and performed it again in Vienna in July at the Ehrbar Hall. Yuanfan was a finalist in the National Centre for Early Music Composers' Award 2013, where his piece 'Crushed Suites' was premiered and recorded by Florilegium, one of the world's leading early music ensembles. http://www.yuanfanyang.com