Yanyan Bao
Sunday, November 8, 2026 – 3:00 PM
Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College
“Again this sensitive musician took us on an extraordinary life journey in pure music — wandering in intensely controlled metaphorical fashion through the emotional extremes of the opera of life. The audience erupted in enthusiasm.”
— michael-moran.com
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Program
CLEMENTI
Sonata in B minor, Op. 40 no. 2
LISZT
Sonata in B minor
BRAHMS
Sonata in F minor No. 3, Op. 5
Pianist Yanyan Bao gained international recognition at the 19th (2025) International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where Gramophone critic Jed Distler praised her “genuine musicality and authentic emotional core.” He also noted her individuality and conviction, drawing subtle comparisons to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Ivo Pogorelich as artists with distinctive musical voices.
Born in Zhuhai, China in 2006, Bao displayed artistic sensitivity from her earliest years and began piano lessons at the age of 4. Her early musical precocity led her to begin more disciplined studies at the age of 7 with Chinese-American pianist Jay Pengjie Sun at Xinghai Conservatory Middle School in Guangzhou. She was next taught by Jay Sun and Vivian Li at the music school attached to Xinghai Conservatory. Currently Bao is studying at The Colburn School in Los Angeles with Professor Fabio Bidini.
She has won many international prizes, including first prize in the 2021 International Piano-E-Competition for Youth and second prize in the 2023 Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, the Singapore International (Junior) Piano Competition, and the Beijing Fryderyk Chopin Young Pianist International Competition.
Bao has performed throughout China, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and the United States, appearing with ensembles including the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, and Salzburg Soloists Orchestra. Her performances are consistently praised for their poetic sensitivity, expressive depth, and artistic clarity.
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“Her entire programme was one of the greatest highlights of the entire competition [19th International Chopin Competition] so far for me. This polonaise [Polonaise in C sharp minor Op. 26 No. 1] is dear to me. Her cantilena at the centre of the work was profoundly moving and replete with the most beautiful glowing sound. The opening note and its sound drew tears. The work was transparent with intensely revealed polyphonic structure. The subtle dynamic variations raised the emotions which made the pendulum that swings from dream to reality all the more eloquent.”
— michael-moran.com
“A genuine musicality and authentic emotional core govern Bao’s fastidious sense of detail on both micro and macro levels, while her articulation of upbeats signifies a gift for effecting transitions that eludes many pianists.”
—Jed Distler, Gramophone
“Bao’s Fourth Ballade fused urgency, refinement, poetry, virtuoso sheen and aching vulnerability. It’s too early to speculate about how far this remarkable young musician will go in this competition, but her Fourth Ballade deserves its own Gold Medal.”
—Jed Distler, Gramophone