Biography
The story behind the music
Photo: Hongfei Ni
Vicky Yang, a native of Shanghai, China, is a pianist currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studies with Ilya Itin and Gabriela Montero. From 2025 to 2027, she serves as an artist-in-residence at Judson Manor, a senior living community in Cleveland.
Vicky earned her B.A. in Music with highest distinction from Duke University in 2025, along with a minor in Psychology. At Duke, she was the winner of the 2022–2023 Duke Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and received The Henry Schumann Music Prize for her distinguished paper on Steve Reich. She was also awarded the Ciompi Quartet Award for excellence in chamber music and received the Benenson Award in the Arts in both 2023 and 2024.
She has appeared in solo and chamber performances across the United States — including Cleveland, Durham, Claremont, Duluth, Boston, and New York — as well as in her hometown of Shanghai. Her festival appearances include the Sarasota Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, and the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg.
Passionate about community engagement, Vicky volunteered as a piano instructor with Musical Empowerment from 2023 to 2025, providing lessons to underserved children. Her former teachers include Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė and Xilan Wang.
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