Sophia Yan
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'Sophia Yan' [b. 8 October 1986] is a Queens-born first-generation Taiwanese musician. Yan is the first place winner of the International Concert Alliance Competition and a laureate of the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, D.C. In addition, she is a two-time winner of the Music Teachers National Association Competition, and prize-winning alumni of the 2004 New York Piano Competition. Her awards include four-time First Prize winner of the Steinway Society Competition [1], First Place in the Battleground Symphony Concerto Competition[2], Grand Prize in the Bookstaber Memorial Piano Competition[3], First Place in the NJMTA Scholarship Competition [4] and Grand Prize in the Goldblatt Scholarship Competition.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times has described Yan's playing: “…the music literally pulls her off the piano bench; she ranges up and down the keyboard so quickly and with such ferocity that mere sitting will not do.”[5] Yan has performed widely in the United States, Europe and Asia, appearing at the Lincoln Center [6], Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hal], CAMI Hall and the Kennedy Center.
An active soloist and chamber musician, Yan has performed in the Eastern Music Festival, Niagara International Chamber Music Festival and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada. Solo orchestral engagements include collaborations with the Orchestra Sinfonica del Estivi di Chioggia, Battleground Symphony [7],Rowan Chamber and East Brunswick Chamber Orchestras. Yan was invited by the Dean of Douglass College, Rutgers University to perform in several exclusive engagements.
In 2004, Yan’s European tour as soloist with orchestra began only four days after her U.S. tour had concluded. In January 2001, she was recorded live for the Exceptional Young Artists CD as a featured artist in the Crescent Concert Series, and has been asked to give several encore performances since then. The recording is under PCM Digital, a division of Sony Classical.
Yan is currently working towards a B.A. in English and a B.M. in piano performance under the tutelage of Robert Shannon at Oberlin on full scholarship. Previous studies were with Alexander Slobodyanik and Julia Lam. Yan has played in master classes taught by Richard Goode, Ian Hobson, Joseph Kalichstein, Peter Takacs, Douglas Humpherys, Evelyne Brancart, Petras Geniusas, Anya Alexeyev, Jose Ramos-Santana and Read Gainsford.
Yan is the arts editor of The Oberlin Review [www.oberlinreview.org], also has been recognized as a National Merit Scholar, an Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar and an A.P. Scholar. She has interned at CBS News in New York, previously holding the position of editor-in-chief of her Columbia Scholastic Press Gold Key award-winning high school yearbook, columnist for a local newspaper, and on-air reporter and production assistant for the news broadcast on EBTV. Yan’s skills and layout design talent has led to several appearances at national media conferences including the Associated Collegiate Press Association Convention, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Conference, and Gettysburg Yearbook Experience.
She is a competitive swimmer for Oberlin’s varsity team, [8] previously competing on the EBHS Bears and Crystal Springs Sandpipers swim teams.
Yan is also an accomplished violinist [9]
Sophia Yan was born 10 October 1986 in Queens, New York to a Taiwanese-immigrant parents. Raised mostly in New Jersey, Yan began musical studies at 3 1/2 years old. She was first invited to perform in Carnegie Hall at the age of 5, having impressed upon many professional musicians her talents. Such an engagement was followed by annual concert cycles at the prestigious venue, and in later years, expanded to include all the world's major concert halls.
A victim of domestic violence and abuse from her father, she is now living only with her mother and younger brother, when she is not pursuing her studies. Yan has worked numberous jobs (secretary, waitress, lifeguard, accompanist, reporter, etc.) in order to gain some income to help her family financially. After a two-year struggle in court, Yan's father left the family and the United States to return to his home country, Taiwan without any advance notice, piling his accumulated debts onto others.
Yan was accepted into all six schools in which she made application to for further studies (Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Oberlin, Northwestern, Rutgers) and was offered at least 2/3 merit scholarship at every institution; a full scholarship was offered at Oberlin and Northwestern.