Yang Yang Cai is a Dutch pianist based in The Netherlands. She has performed widely throughout Europe and Asia.

Yang Yang (1998) began playing the piano at the age of five with Noor Relijk. Subsequently she continued her piano studies with renowned professor Jan Wijn. After working with him for ten years, she completed her bachelor's degree in piano with the highest final mark at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in May 2019. In 2023, she obtained her diploma from the prestigious Accademia Pianistica di Imola under Enrico Pace.

Yang Yang is currently pursuing her Master’s degree with Frank van de Laar at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Yang Yang is always looking for new ways to give meaning to musical programs, for example by collaborating with artists and musicians in other genres, and by actively broadening herself. 

With violinist Shin Sihan and cellist Alexander Warenberg, Yang Yang has formed the successful Amsterdam Piano Trio since 2017. In 2019 they performed in the Small Hall of the Concertgebouw, among others, with works by Beethoven, Ravel and Shostakovich. “Playing with them is a great experience every time,” says Yang Yang

She has also participated in master classes from, among others, Ronald Brautigam, Boris Berman, Matti Raekallio, Jacques Rouvier, Klaus Hellwig, Alexander Gavrylyuk, and Arie Vardi. In 2019 she also participated in a workshop with Maria João Pires’ in Belgais Center for Arts to sharpen her musical senses and strengthen her personal relationship with music. 

She enjoys giving concerts the most. Starting her performing career at age nine, Yang Yang has performed in all the major halls of The Netherlands, such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Royal Theater Carré, DeLaMar theatre and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. She has also performed in the renowned Laeiszhalle in Hamburg and received excellent reviews from local press. 

Yang Yang attaches great importance to an honest interpretation of compositions in which the music itself is central and forms a bridge between player and listener. At every concert she explores different ways to connect with her listeners that transcend words. Through an honest and open way of making music, Yang Yang wants to show a wide audience that music is a universal language that everyone understands.

PRIZES

At the age of nine she also represented the Netherlands at the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany. In 2015 she was invited by the Dutch Trade and Investment Office in Taiwan to play in Taipei. She participated in numerous festivals such as Delft Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Festival Wonderfeel, Lowlands Festival, International Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog and Aspen Music School and Festival.

Both in 2008 and in 2012 she won first prize at the Steinway Piano Competition (NL). In 2013 Yang Yang won the Junior Final of the Young Pianist Foundation Competition. In this final she played Mozart's 14th Piano Concerto along with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra. Yang Yang received the Classic Young Masters Award 2017. In February 2019 she won first prize of the Young Pianist Foundation Piano Competition 2019 Grand Prix Youri Egorov. In the finals she performed Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto under the baton of Jean-Bernard Pommier with the symphony orchestra of the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Yang Yang gratefully acknowledges the financial aid she has received from VandenEnde Foundation, Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds, Ars Donandi, NL Talentenfonds, Muziekfonds Stringendo, Dr. Hendrik Muller Fonds and Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. Yang Yang has a Steinway & Sons D-274 on loan from the Voorlinden Foundation.