Yang Xiaoyu to premiere Ysaye's Preludes in Beijing

Violinist Yang Xiaoyu will give a recital at the Beijing Concert Hall on Sept 9, featuring the Chinese premieres of Eugene Ysaye's Preludes, Op 35, excerpts of The Mephisto Waltzes — four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt — and excerpts of Salvatore Sciarrino's Sei Capricci.

He will also play music pieces by Bach, Niccolo Paganini and Bela Bartok.

The award-winning violinist, who served as concertmaster for the China National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra for eight years, played Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin and Ysaye's famous Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op 27 during recitals in 2022, winning him applause from the audience and critics alike. In July, he played Brahms's Violin Sonatas accompanied by pianist Kong Jianing.

In the upcoming concert, Yang seeks to challenge himself with technically difficult compositions, and to illustrate the beauty of the violin through music from different eras.

Yang started learning the piano when he was 4, and the violin when he was 5. At 11, he entered the Middle School Affiliated to the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and studied under renowned teachers like Lin Yaoji, a violinist and professor at the conservatory.

He began performing solo and with orchestras as a teenager, and did well in a number of international competitions, including winning first prize in the violin section at the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Xiamen.