Praised as an “amazing young pianist” by Marin Alsop, Chengcheng Yao is quickly establishing herself as one of today’s most creative artists. Recent highlights include her performances of Bartók Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop and the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra and conductor Timothy Muffitt. She has also performed as a soloist with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and Hebei Symphony Orchestra. She has given solo and chamber performances at many venues across North America, Asia, and Europe, including Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Steinway Hall in Hamburg, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Beethoven Center and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Chinese Culture Center and Berlin University of the Arts in Berlin, National Center for the Performing Arts and Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, University of Toronto, among others.

 

Winner of the 2017 Elizabeth Parisot Prize awarded to "outstanding pianists" at the Yale School of Music, Ms. Yao has won prizes in numerous competitions, including First and Special Prize in the 71st Steinway International Piano Competition, First Prize in the Sigma Alpha Iota Competition, First Prize in the Harrison Winter Piano Competition, Silver Medal in the 68th Wideman International Piano Competition, Silver Medal in the 2016 Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition, Second Prize in the Virtuoso & Belcanto Piano Competition, Third Prize in the Weatherford College International Piano Competition, and Third Prize in the WPTA International Piano Competition.

 

Ms. Yao completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She holds two master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, where she worked with Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, Peter Frankl, and Hung-Kuan Chen. She is one of the last students of legendary pianist Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and is now under the tutelage of Yong Hi Moon while pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Ms. Yao joined the piano faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music in September 2021.