CLARA
Yang
PIANIST
BIOGRAPHY
Praised for her “breathtaking technical prowess” (Cultural Voice of North Carolina) and “probing emotional depth and daring individuality” (Peninsula Reviews), Chinese-American pianist Clara Yang has performed on some of the world’s leading stages, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York), the Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing), and the National Auditorium of Music (Madrid). Featured on prestigious concert series such as Carolina Performing Arts and Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, she connects with audiences by creating deep emotional experiences through her musical storytelling.
She has appeared as soloist under the baton of distinguished conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Long Yu (余隆), Carl St. Clair, Josep Caballé Domenech, George Jackson, Laura Jackson, Tõnu Kalam, Grant Llewellyn, and Jeff Tyzik, with renowned orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid, Pacific Symphony, and the North Carolina Symphony.
Yang is equally at home in the classical canon, new music, and interdisciplinary work. Known for her bold artistic vision, she has collaborated across genres with luminaries including pianist Aaron Diehl, new media artist Xuan, rock guitarist Yvette Young, and hip-hop artist Suzi Analogue. In 2024, she was named an Artist-in-Residence at the renowned Baryshnikov Arts for her multimedia project Ex Machina. A champion of new music, she performed alongside Philip Glass, Timo Andres, and other distinguished artists in The Complete Philip Glass Piano Etudes concert produced by Pomegranate Arts. She also gave the world and U.S. premieres of Chen Yi’s Piano Concerto Four Spirits—written for her—with the China Philharmonic Orchestra (中国爱乐) at the Forbidden Concert Hall in Beijing and on Carolina Performing Arts.
Her recordings have received critical acclaim and international media coverage. Her solo album Folding Time (Albany Records) was awarded a Global Music Awards Gold Medal and named one of the Best of 2016 by American Record Guide. Her collaborative albums—Mother Tales (Navona Records), with violinist Sunmi Chang, and Grieg and Prokofiev (Albany Records), with cellist Helen Xiao-Dan Zheng Altenbach—have been praised by Strings Magazine, Pizzicato, and Fanfare. Her performances have been broadcast worldwide, and she has been profiled by major media outlets and publications in both the United States and China. She was a national reviewer for the renowned YoungArts organization and served on the Artistic Panel for New Music USA.
Yang currently serves as the Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a DMA from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Nelita True; an Artist Diploma and MM from the Yale School of Music, under Claude Frank; and a BM from the USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied with John Perry. Her precollege mentors include Hans Boepple, Zhou Guangren (周广仁), and Li Huili.
PRESS
New York Arts
"Clara Yang's technique was effortless and smooth, and her rendition of the famous 18th Variation romantically memorable. It was wildly and deservedly well received by the audience."
Peninsula Reviews
"Ms. Yang brought out the subtle variation of color and the shifts in rhythmic patterns were performed with clarity and the kind of supple freedom that even the most refined orchestral conductor could hardly match . . . She combined impressive keyboard prowess with probing emotional depth and daring individuality through to the thunderous conclusion. Ms. Yang thoughtfully attended to unraveling Schubert’s musical intent, while giving the score a vividly personalized interpretation."
Fanfare
"Like so many young pianists, she has a flawless technique, but she possesses qualities that many of the others don’t, particularly her way of incorporating the most difficult technical passages into the ongoing musical discourse and a long view of the music in terms of structure...She has the rare gift of being able to take an old warhorse and make it sound fresh . . . A first-rate recital by a first-rate pianist who knows her stuff and isn’t afraid of challenges."
Cultural Voice of North Carolina
“Yang's performance was breathtaking and entrancing in equal measure. What a kaleidoscope of tonal refinement and graduated range of dynamics! She perfectly captured Scriabin's mood of mystical reverie.”
Strings Magazine
“Chang produces a warm, dusky sound on her 1903 Giulio Degani that matches beautifully the dark sound of Yang’s piano, and together they bask in the music’s autumnal tones and melodies that could be Brahms tempered by Rachmaninoff. After Yang plunges darkly into the third movement, their handling of the fugue is breathtaking…”
Segarra News (Spain)
“The Chinese-American pianist Clara Yang finished her European concert tour in Cervera...sensitive phrasing and a great sound range helped finding a mystery, always presenting an appreciable subtlety lyricism...Clara Yang ended the concert with an interpretation imbued with introspection, strength, power and delicacy of Schumann's Humoreske."
New York Arts
"Among the newer works, a real find is Robert Muczynski’s Maverick Pieces . . . These are short, gleaming, clever, and sonorous pieces, delivered effortlessly and beautifully. I can’t stop playing them!”
American Record Guide
Yang’s technique and range is impressive here, and she proves herself adept at the music of the present and the past. And as should be expected from a recording that takes time as its theme, she also demonstrates incredible rhythmic accuracy . . . Excellent program, gorgeous sound.”
Cultural Voice of North Carolina
“Yang's clear, crystalline tone and sparkling articulation was a constant delight. The cadenzas, of her own composition, were stylistically apt and pleasing. More than once during the slow movement, I was reminded by the dialog between Yang and the vivid woodwinds of Le Nozze di Figaro. Yang and Jackson brought out plenty of drama and flair in the finale. Never miss a chance to hear Yang perform!”
Cultural Voice of North Carolina
"She revealed breath-taking technical prowess and keen interpretive insights. Here and elsewhere in the program there was a sense of the long line in which her overall focus helped keep the score's numerous small components in precise balance with one another..."
MEDIA
Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 with additions by Busoni and Clara Yang
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody (excerpts) Clara Yang piano, Tonu Kalam conductor, UNC Symphony
Mozart K. 503 excerpts, Clara Yang, piano, George Jackson, conductor, Winston Salem Symphony
Shostakovich Concerto No. 2 (excerpt) Clara Yang piano, Tonu Kalam conductor, UNC Symphony
Rachmaninoff Concerto No.1 (III)
Clara Yang - Clinamina for Piano and Electronics by Lee Weisert
Clara Yang - Drones by Stephen Anderson (Official Video)
Phil Young Reflection on a Tang Poem (Clara Yang)
A great pleasure to perform complete Glass etudes alongside Philip Glass and other renowned artists!
It was an unforgettable experience performing as a soloist with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the European Union Youth Orchestra!
Cello-piano duo concert with cellist Helen (Xiao-Dan) Z. Altenbach in the Le Petit Trianon in San Jose, CA.
A great pleasure to perform complete Glass etudes alongside Philip Glass and other renowned artists!
SCHEDULE
April 14-15, 2026
Solo recital and masterclass at Texas State University
February 11, 2026
Solo recital and masterclass on the Abell series at UCLA
October 26-27, 2025
Solo recital and masterclass at University of Oregon
October 19, 2025
Shostakovich Concerto No. 2 with the Durham Symphony Orchestra, William Henry Curry, conductor
September 21, 2025
Amy Beach sonata with flutist Brooks de Wetter-Smith, White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, NC
March 17, 2025
Solo recital at Yale Club of New York City, NYC
March 6, 2025
Performance of Hammers on the Moon (two-piano version) by Liliya Ugay, Yale School of Music
February 14-15, 2025
Solo recital at the Rutgers PianoFest: John Perry's 90th Birthday Celebration
TEACHING
"After four years of teaching, I can easily say that she has been the most impactful professor of my college experience, teaching my far beyond expectation and course subject. She is able to connect with students outside of the classroom, establishing a trust with her students –necessary as learning an instrument can often be a stressful and sensitive practice. In terms of her teaching style, she is positive and honest without being overly complementary. She pushes you and has no problem telling you what you need to improve, but she does so in a way that makes you take ownership for your playing. She suggests improvements while also allowing her students to explore their own ideas about a piece, something I particularly appreciate."
“Dr. Yang made sure that every student was able to express themselves, through music without feeling judged, or being uncomfortable, making it possible for us to learn how to interpret music in our own individual way.”
First prize winners at the MTNA Stecher and Horowitz Two Piano Competition National Finals
"She is truly dedicated to seeing her students succeed. I gave my first recital this semester, and knowing how nervous I was, Dr. Yang dedicated extra lesson time to make sure I was ready, as well as numerous conversations about managing nerves and the purposes of sharing music. Dr. Yang is able to bring talent out of you that you didn't know you had, and creates an extremely curious and friendly environment in which to do so."
"Dr. Yang is hands down the best piano teacher I have had. She is excellent at both being critical and encouraging about your work. She's a teacher you want to do well for just because you respect her so much. "
Dr. Clara Yang currently serves as Head of Keyboard Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has presented masterclasses and lectures worldwide, including the China Conservatory in Beijing, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory Musical College, King’s College London, and the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona. She has served on juries for major competitions such as the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition and YoungArts National Competition. Her students have won top state and national awards and performed at major venues and series such as Carnegie Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, and Carolina Performing Arts. Below are comments from her students.
UNC Piano Studies
"Dr. Yang is by far one of the most influential professors I've had at UNC. Having studied with her for four years, I've felt that I have grown tremendously as a musician. Lessons are productive, mentally engaging, and simply fun. She brings insightful and effective feedback, incorporating multiple aspects from techniques for practicing technically difficult sections, relating theory and structure to style and muscality, to even abstract philosophical discussions about the value of music and the emotions it can evoke. Her teaching style is encouraging, friendly, and relatable--inspiring, yet rarely intimidating. In giving suggestions and criticism, she is always clear and never demeaning or dismissive. Dr. Yang is a fantastic teacher and has been a huge factor in my success and enjoyment studying at UNC."
"This year, I auditioned for and got an MIT Emerson Music Fellowship which funded my private lessons at U. Mass. Boston. As part of the fellowship, I recently gave a solo recital featuring Bartok's Sonata BB 88, Scriabin 9, and Beethoven Op.111. I will also give a recital of Beethoven "les Adieux" for my graduate house in a couple of weeks. I have to thank you for everything you taught me in my final semester at UNC. Focusing on producing a good sound and especially attuning my ears for it has been invaluable in adjusting to new pianos and halls. I am constantly complimented on my piano touch by the faculty here. The painstaking work on the first movement of Prokofiev 7 definitely changed my mindset in learning and practicing difficult music and made this year's ambitious program possible."
