Praised as “mature and authoritative piano artist” by Jerome Lowenthal (former Chair of Piano at the Juilliard School and second-generation inheritor of Chopin) and “a rich and tasteful musical feast!” by China News and commended by Dang Thai Son as possessing a “high level of professionalism, keen ear and a rare sense of making the piano at times sing or speak, wonderful balance of reason and emotion, appealing artistic temperament combined with special musical sensibility”, Yan Fang is widely recognised as a pianist who embodies the spirit and soul of the “golden age”.
Yan Fang has become one of the fastest-rising pianists of his generation. In recent years Mr Fang has performed extensively in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Hawaii, Kalamazoo and Shreveport (USA); Germany, Italy and Bulgaria (EU); Moscow, St Petersburg, Vladikavkaz and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia); as well as Shanghai, Nanjing, Harbin, Chengdu, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Tainan, Taipei and Kaohsiung (China) among other global locations.
During the 2024–25 season Mr Fang toured across China, performing with the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Haofu Chai and with the Jiangsu and Liaoning symphony orchestras under Jiongjie Yin. He also appeared in South Korea – with the Daegu Symphony Orchestra under Jin Hyoun Baek, and in Russia – with the Orchestra of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania Branch of the Mariinsky Theatre under Leonid Korchmar. Additionally, his recitals took place in New York, Xiamen and in Russia (Moscow’s GES-2 House of Culture, St Petersburg’s State Hermitage and Nizhny Novgorod’s Packhouses cultural centre). In the past years Yan have also performed with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and Renchang Fu, the Beijing Xinhua Symphony Orchestra and Feihu Jiao, the China Russian Symphony Orchestra and Jinsong Lin, the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra and Yuri Medianik.
In March 2025 Yan Fang embarks on another remarkable series of engagements. On 3 March he will have his debut, performing alongside Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra at St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre in honour of the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth. He will give a recital at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre on 9 March. Shortly thereafter Mr Fang will travel to the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania Branch of the Mariinsky Theatre for two performances with Zaurbeck Gugkaev (concert on 11 March, followed by a recital on 13 March). Apart from the engagement with the Mariinsky Theatre, he will appear with the Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Medianik to perform Yin Chengzong’s Yellow River Piano Concerto, and on 19 March he will give a masterclass at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Yan Fang will have his Chongqing debut on 22 March at the Chongqing Grand Theatre (China), performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chongqing Symphony Orchestra under Haofu Chai.
Mr Fang was appointed Honorary Artist / Artist-in-Residence at the International Piano Centre (Xiamen Institute of Technology), joining a distinguished international team of musicians such as Professor Mingsun Zhou (Central Conservatory of Music, China), Choi Sown Le (Chairman of the Hong Kong Piano Music Association), Kenneth Hamilton (Dean of Cardiff University’s School of Music, Great Britain), Markus Groh (Professor at the Universität der Künste Berlin), Roman Zaslavsky (Professor at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien), Red Canzian (National Artist of Italy) and Abisal Gergiev. This group is dedicated to advancing music performance, education, and international collaboration.
Currently Yan Fang is studying with Yefim Bronfman as the first piano Artist Diploma (AD) candidate in almost a decade at the Manhattan School of Music. The AD is the highest-level programme in the US conservatory system, admitting at most one candidate across all disciplines – sometimes none (MSM). He also earned a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and Hung-Kuan Chen, and a Bachelor of Music from Boston’s New England Conservatory under Alexander Korsantia. He holds an Academy Diploma from Los Angeles’ Colburn School where he studird with Myong-joo Lee. Prior to that, Yan also studied under Chengzong Yin, Shuhua Chen, Ni Fang, Xiao Luo, Weiming Li and Xiaoyu Wang. He has also worked with prominent figures such as Murray Perahia and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Yan Fang was a 2024 Gilmore Festival Fellow and named 2019 Person of the Year for Public Welfare (Shoulder Action, China). A TEDxTalk Speaker (@HuizhanRd), he is also G. Henle Verlag International Partner and was selected as one of “The Ten Pianists” for the G. Henle and Murray Perahia celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. In addition, he won the Honors Competition at the New England Conservatory.
ClassicFM (Bulgaria) has praised Yan Fang, noting that “his career is connected with many noble initiatives”. In 2020 he launched a philanthropic collaboration with the Shoulder Action Foundation, hosting two annual events that drew support from 21 companies and 18 media outlets, including China News and China.com. Collectively, these efforts raised over $65,000, providing essential funding to more than 30 schools across China. Guided by his belief in music’s power to transcend boundaries, Yan Fang envisions a world in which music connects the world, fostering love, empathy, compassion and a shared sense of humanity.
Information for March 2025
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