Sophia Yan

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Sophia Yan

Sophia Yan (嚴倩君, pinyin: Yán Qiànjūn, b. October 8, 1986) born in Queens, New York, is an American classical pianist.

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 alumna 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.

As Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times describes, when Yan plays “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 Lincoln Center ^[6], Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, CAMI Hall, Kennedy Center, St. Mark's, 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 is currently in her fourth year at Oberlin College, where she is enrolled in a 5-year, 2-degree program. She will graduate in 2009 with a BA in English and a BM in Piano Performance. She is the managing editor of The Oberlin Review.