Praised by Marin Alsop as an “amazing young pianist,” Chengcheng Yao is rapidly emerging as one of the most creative and expressive artists of her generation. Her orchestral highlights include performances of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop and with the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra under maestro Timothy Muffitt. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hebei Symphony Orchestra.
Yao’s solo performances have taken her to prestigious venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, such as Alice Tully Hall in New York, Laeiszhalle and Steinway Hall in Hamburg, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna’s Beethoven Center and University of Music and Performing Arts, Berlin’s Chinese Culture Center and University of the Arts, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts and Forbidden City Concert Hall, and the University of Toronto.
A passionate chamber musician, Yao has participated in major festivals including the Chautauqua Music Festival (USA), Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival and Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival (Italy), University of Toronto New Music Festival (Canada), and Beijing International Piano Festival (China). Her chamber music performances have spanned notable venues such as Heliconian Hall (Toronto), Morse Hall at The Juilliard School (New York), Morse Recital Hall at Yale School of Music (New Haven), and Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall at the Peabody Institute (Baltimore).
Winner of the 2017 Elizabeth Parisot Prize—awarded to “outstanding pianists” at the Yale School of Music—Yao has been recognized with numerous awards. Her achievements include First Prizes at the 71st Steinway International Piano Competition, the Sigma Alpha Iota Piano Competition, and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition. She has also received Silver Medals at the 68th Wideman International Piano Competition, the 2016 Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition, and the Virtuoso & Belcanto Piano Competition, as well as Third Prizes at the Weatherford College International Piano Competition and the WPTA International Piano Competition.
Dedicated to education, Yao has been a piano instructor at the Washington Conservatory of Music since 2021, teaching students of all ages. She previously served as a Piano Minor Lesson Instructor at the Peabody Institute and as a Secondary Piano Lesson Instructor at the Yale School of Music. Yao has also given masterclasses at the Peabody Institute and the China Conservatory of Music and, since September 2024, has been serving as a coach for the Homewood Chamber Music Seminar at Johns Hopkins University.
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 the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, Peter Frankl, and Hung-Kuan Chen. While pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, she worked with legendary pianist Leon Fleisher and Yong Hi Moon.