Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia is pleased to announce the 2012 competition winner, Avan Yu, will perform two exclusive recitals in Sydney and Melbourne this June and July.

Artistic Director for the Sydney International Piano Competition, Piers Lane AO said, “I am delighted that Avan Yu, the illustrious Canadian winner of the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition, continues to return regularly to Australia where he has a devoted following. Not surprisingly! He’s a real communicator with a poetic sensibility and the pianistic ease to express all he feels. You’ll enjoy.”

Avan Yu is one of Canada’s most exciting young pianists. Yu won his first national piano competition, the Canadian Music Competition, at the age of 13. Four years later, Yu became the youngest competitor ever to win the Canadian Chopin Competition. He achieved international recognition when he triumphed at the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2012, winning First Prize along with nine special awards.

He has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and at venues such as the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House. Yu has obtained Diplom and Konzertexamen degrees at the Berlin University of the Arts in Germany and is currently a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts at the Manhattan School of Music.

Yu was first noticed by Pinchas Zukerman and Bramwell Tovey who invited him to perform with their respective orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony. Since then, Yu has appeared with conductors and musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Rafael Fruehbeck de Burgos, Christian Arming, Juanjo Mena and Johannes Moser.

Yu’s teachers include Klaus Hellwig, Horacio Gutierrez, Kenneth Broadway, Ralph Markham and Kut Kau Sum. He has obtained Diplom and Konzertexamen degrees at the Berlin University of the Arts in Germany, and is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts at the Manhattan School of Music.

Yu has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Salle Cortot in Paris and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

The program will include Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.18 in D Major K.576, Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin, Liszt’s Sonetto 123 and 104 del Petrarca S.161, and Sonata in B minor S.178. 

AVAN YU- SYDNEY RECITAL is  presented by  the Sydney International Piano Competition [Facebook] 7:30pm on Saturday, 30 June at Verbrugghen Hall.