Sophia Yan
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Sophia Yan (嚴倩君 b. October 10, 1986) is an American musician.
Yan was born in the New York City borough of Queens to Taiwanese-immigrant parents. Raised mostly in East Brunswick, New Jersey, where she attended the East Brunswick High School, Yan began musical studies at three and a half years old. She first came to international attention at the age of five, giving a performance at Carnegie Hall as the national First Place winner in three categories (Ensemble, Solo, Composer Choice) in the Piano Teachers Society of America Competition.[citation needed] This engagement was followed by more appearances at the prestigious venue, and in later years, expanded to include many of the world's major concert halls.
Yan's parents divorced when she was young; following a two-year court struggle, Yan's father returned to his native Taiwan leaving the family struggling with his debts.[citation needed] Yan presently lives with her mother and younger brother.
Yan is prizewinner 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 (Eastern, NJ), 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 Hall, CAMI Hall, Kennedy Center and St. Mark's.
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 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. Several of Yan's performances from the Eastern Music Festival (2005) have been broadcast on NPR stations.
In 2004, Yan’s performances in Europe began only four days after a series of U.S. appearances 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.
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 College on full scholarship. Previous studies were with Alexander Slobodyanik, Julia Lam and Sylvia Henry.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
Yan will be featured in a documentary, entitled Beyond the Practice Room, slated for release in 2006, which follows the passion for music in twenty two top pianists selected worldwide, musicians described as having "dedication, poise and amazing talent" by the Daily News.[citation needed]
Yan is the arts editor of The Oberlin Review [8], and also has been recognized as a National Merit Scholar, an Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar and an A.P. Scholar. Last winter, she 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, [9] previously competing on the EBHS Bears and Crystal Springs Sandpipers swim teams.
In high school Yan also demonstrated she was an accomplished violinist. [10]
