BARLETTA – The young virtuoso of the eighty-eight keys Yuanfan Yang will be the eagerly awaited protagonist of the eighteenth edition of the Barletta Piano Festival, on Wednesday 3 July (9.15 pm), in the hall of the Hotel La Terrazza. The talented British musician of Asian origin, also known for his improvisational skills, will perform a repertoire including music by Johann Sebastian Bach (the «Chaconne» transcribed by Ferruccio Busoni), Franz Liszt («At the Lake of Wallen», «At the Edge of a Spring» and «Thunderstorm» from «The Years of Pilgrimage»), Claude Debussy («Reflections on Water» from «Images»), Gabriel Fauré (Barcarolle No. 1 op. 26) and Fryderyk Chopin (Barcarolle op. 60) in addition to his own composition «Waves» and extemporaneous creations that will arise from suggestions from the audience.
Born in Edinburgh in 1997, Yuanfan Yang truly burst onto the international scene in 2022 with his victory at the prestigious Casagrande Competition, which came after a series of triumphs at the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, the Chopin Prize, the Roma International Piano Competition (winning the youngest finalist award), the Young Artists in Cleveland and the Franz Liszt in Weimar. A keen chamber musician, Yuanfan was also awarded the 2020 Royal Overseas League Collaborative Piano Prize.
So, not only an excellent interpreter of the great repertoire, Yuanfan Yang is also a versatile composer and a skilled improviser. Some of his works have been broadcast by the BBC since 2007 and his concert «The Wilderness», made for solo piano and symphony orchestra, has been performed in China, the United Kingdom and France, always receiving enthusiastic reception from both critics and audiences. In 2017, the concert was even chosen by the China National Arts Fund, which has financed eight public performances with orchestra in China.
Yuanfan Yang’s debut album, «Watercolor», features an eclectic range of solo piano music, and three of the compositions were released in 2017 by Orchid Classics to critical acclaim.
A precocious talent, having completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London at a very young age with top marks, Yuanfan Yang has so far performed not only in the UK but also at numerous festivals and concert societies around the world.
The Barletta Piano Festival, organized by the Amici della Musica «Mauro Giuliani» chaired by Francesco Saverio Caporale with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Puglia Region and the Municipality of Barletta, will as always reserve particular attention to the Apulian piano movement. And the operation will start with the next concert, the recital by Serena Valluzzi scheduled for Friday, July 5.
All concerts will start at 9:15 pm. Info 347.6194215 – barlettapianofestival.it – [email protected].
