Biography
Born in Ottawa, 22-year-old Canadian pianist Charmaine Yang has been playing the piano for 17 years. She recently performed her Bachelor’s graduation recital and graduated with the best mark, and began her Master’s degree in Klavier Soloausbildung in October 2024. She is currently studying with Professor Andreas Groethuysen at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, with her previous teachers being Elizabeth Bergmann (Canada), Wei Zhou, and Zhe Tang (Shanghai Conservatory). Charmaine has had great opportunities to work with renowned musicians from all over the world: including a summer in 2019 and 2024 at the Internationale Konzertarbeitswochen Goslar with Arie Vardi; a program at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2018 with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Toby Appel, Amy Yang and others. Other memorable connections include André Laplante, Mischa Maisky, Jon Kimura Parker, John O’Conor, Ian Parker, Stéphane Lemelin, and the Gryphon Trio.
Charmaine has won numerous prizes at competitions, with the most notable two being first place at the 2019 CMC Concours de musique du Canada, and second place in Chamber Music at the 2018 FCMF National Music Festival, despite being the youngest competitor in the category (age 15 in Category 25 and under). Her other achievements include performing the first Beethoven Concerto with the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13.
As a graduate of the Langley Fine Arts School and the Langley Community Music School in 2020, Charmaine has received many generous funding and awards, namely the Sharon Stevenson Scholarship, BC Arts Council Scholarship Award, and Provincial Achievement Scholarship. Her time at LFAS equipped her with knowledge outside the classical music realm, she also performed frequently in the style of jazz, fusion, musical theatre, choral music, and other genres. Additionally, she has also picked up the flute and taken cello lessons.
Most importantly, Charmaine is now working on expanding her career in Europe, namely Austria. She has performed in several cities such as Vienna and Linz, and she makes consistent appearances at events and concerts in Salzburg. Charmaine has been frequently invited to perform at forums and special concerts organized by the Mozarteum University, for example, the Mozart;Forum where she performed in a concert alongside her professor and his partner, Professor Yaara Tal; her chamber music performances at the Erika-Frieser-Kammermusictage; her solo and chamber music performance of the Schubert (Liszt) “Gute Nacht” at the Metamorphosen event, just to name a few. Charmaine has also been invited as a guest artist outside of the university, with the most memorable being at the Salzburg Global Seminar, at which she performed a solo recital.