Qian Yin - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Franck: Violin Sonata (2022)

Qian Yin is a versatile musician, passionate chamber performer and dedicated educator. An active soloist, Yin has appeared in such venues as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Academy of Music’s Duke Hall. Her musicianship has been recognized in competitions around the globe, including Artist Presentation Society Competition, Berlin International Music Competition, Alexander & Buono International Music Competition, Southern Illinois Young Artist Competition, American Classical Young Musician Award, and others. She was the recipient of the Atlantic Music Festival and Banff Musicians in Residence fellowship in 2016. In 2010, Yin was featured on the Sky Arts Channel as a soloist at Royal Festival Hall. As a passionate chamber musician, Yin has given recitals in Konzerthaus Berlin, Chicago Cultural Center, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Royal Festival Hall, Benaroya Hall, Krannert Center, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Shanghai Grand Theatre and Beijing Poly Theatre. She has participated in numerous music festivals, including Banff Musicians in Residence, Atlantic Music Festival in Maine, Young Euro Classic in Berlin and Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. During the 2005 season, she was invited to tour with Seiji Ozawa and chamber musicians from the Ongaku-juku while performing concerts throughout Japan and China. In 2017, she joined the music faculty at Red Deer College and at Walla Walla University in 2018. Her students have won many international competitions, including Chicago International Music Competition, Windsor International Piano Competition, New Star Music Competition, Singapore International Music Competition, Tokyo International Youth Music Competition, WPTA Spain International Piano Competition, and others. Yin holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois, where she was awarded a Teaching Assistantship from 2012 to 2015. Born in China, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2009, she received her Master’s degree and LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) Teaching Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music. Qian Yin plays on an 1830 Stefano Scarampella violin with a bow made by Alfred Lamy in 1920, both courtesy of the Guadagnini Violin Shop in Chicago.

Po-Chuan Chiang, a native of Taiwan, performs nationally and internationally. Chiang has worked with many performers, both instrumental and vocal, in multiple styles and genres. In the summer, he has worked as a pianist for the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Scuola Italia opera program in Sant’Angelo in Vado, Italy. In 2018, he performed in the winner’s concert of the American Protégé Competition in the chamber music category at Carnegie Hall. During his early years at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Chiang was granted a prestigious accompanying assistantship with the vocal, brass and string divisions for student lessons and recitals. He was subsequently offered an opera accompanying assistantship, supporting singers in main-stage operatic productions at the Krannert Center. He also served as the pianist for the University of Illinois Wind Orchestra and Wind Symphony. Chiang has extensive experience in the world of musical theater, having worked with the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Champaign Central High School and Parkland College Theater as a rehearsal pianist and keyboard player in performances. Currently a staff accompanist at Western Illinois University, Chiang holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan. In 2009, he received a Master of Music degree in piano performance at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he served as a staff accompanist. In 2017, Chiang earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance under Ian Hobson at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.