We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Zi Yi Yang recently and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie Zi Yi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I received an opportunity to perform a debut concert at Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou China at the age of eight. Xinhai Concert Hall is a place I grew up listening to concerts by world class musicians such as Lang Lang and Yo Yo Ma. I felt incredibly honored to perform on this prestigious stage of my dream. Being able to immerse myself in the applause sound from the audience made me decide to pursue piano performance as my future career.
Stephanie Zi Yi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started taking piano lessons when I was four years old. Piano was not an easy after-school subject to maintain comparing to other subjects such as sports, dance or visual arts, it requires lots of discipline and alone time. I often felt lonely and helpless when I had to practice by myself while my classmates could be playing outdoor with others. Luckily, I was a very competitive child, and my teacher knew exactly how to deal with a kid like me. He kept me very busy with monthly performance and competition, and I enjoyed every bit we had achieved together. I used to image that every performance and competition I did was a level I advanced in a video game. I loved how classical music introduced me to different culture and history, and gave me opportunities to travel to East Asia, Europe and North America.
Performing classical music has always been my dream growing up. But my career has shifted slightly since I discovered my new passion in creating and performing contemporary music. Learning different experimental ways of playing an instrument and hearing all the abstract ideas and interpretations from the composer himself always fascinate me. I am currently a featured artist at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University where I perform and premiere compositions by up and coming composers. In a piece I performed at Steinway Hall, Vancouver called “…as Water” by Yifan Guo last year, the composer created a new type of listening and performance experience, which includes an AI that was coded by him. Called Artificial Organism, the AI is capable of growing new pitches in a watery sense by learning existing sounds, as well as using its own process to adapt, digest, and produce its own sound. “…as Water” is the very first composition which uses such techniques to complement the performer’s playing.
Besides performing, I have become a Young Artist Member of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA) in 2023, and I was also part of the judge committee in the 2023 Golden Swan International Music Festival Competition at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a musician is that I get to immerse myself in the wonderful musical world everyday as my work. I love to discover and work on solo classical piano repertoire as well as learning new music by composers I work with. I think of myself as a delivery person for music and joy to people.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I hope to introduce and educate more aspects of classical music to young people. It is sad to realize that the population of classical music lovers has been decreasing in the past decades. People in the younger generation often say classical music is difficult to appreciate and understand. By continuing to perform and teach, I hope you bring classical music closer to our daily lives. Showing the “behind the scene” stories and inspirational ideas of the composers, guiding my audience to enjoy every exciting fragment and calming scenery in music.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yang-stephanie.com/