Concerto competition

Eligibility

Repertoire

Performer's Fees

Adjudication

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen

Dr. Yi-Yang Chen is a concert pianist and educator whose work brings together performance, teaching, and community engagement. He is Associate Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Area at DePaul University School of Music. Previously, he held tenured appointments at the University of Kansas and East Tennessee State University. Born in Taipei, Chen earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at the Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree at The Juilliard School.

Chen has performed on five continents, with appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Melbourne Recital Centre, Banff Centre, and the National Concert Hall in Taipei. As a soloist, he has performed with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonic, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Chinese Orchestra. His honors include victories at the Washington International, Sussex International, Waring International, and MTNA National Young Artist piano competitions.

Praised by New York Concert Review for his “sparkling” passagework and a “powerhouse performance,” Chen presents programs spanning classical masterworks, new music, and interdisciplinary projects. He has premiered new works written for him and explored multimedia concert formats. He is artistic director of the Orbifold Music Festival and remains committed to expanding access to classical music through performance, education, and community engagement.




Drew Petersen

Drew Petersen is an American pianist whose work as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician spans a wide range of repertoire. His honors include a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2017 American Pianists Awards, and the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship. He has appeared with orchestras across the United States, including those in Baltimore, Charleston, Hartford, Indianapolis, and Asheville, and has performed in recital throughout the country.

Petersen’s debut solo album, released by Steinway & Sons in 2018, features American music by Samuel Barber, Elliott Carter, and others. His performances have been heard on Performance Today, From the Top, and the McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase; his work has also been featured in The New York Times and New York Magazine. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he has performed at the Verbier Festival and appeared on France Musique.

A committed advocate for arts education, Petersen received a Davidson Fellows Award for his project Keeping Classical Music Alive and has collaborated with Young Audiences NY to bring performances to public schools. He studied at The Juilliard School, where he received a Kovner Fellowship, and graduated from Harvard with honors in social science. His performances reflect a belief in music’s power to connect artists and audiences.



Dr. Yinfei Wang

Dr. Yinfei Wang made his public debut at age seven at Shanghai Concert Hall and has since performed across China, Singapore, Spain, Australia, and the United States. A prizewinner of the Washington International, Gershwin, Five Towns, Jacob Flier, and Hartford Chopin competitions, he has appeared as a soloist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra under conductors including Vladimir Feltsman and Philippe Entremont.

An active chamber musician, Wang has appeared at The Perlman Music Program, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Summer Concerts at NEC, and Concerts on the Slope. His collaborators include violinist Nai-Yuan Hu, violist Hsin-Yun Huang, and cellist Nathan Vickery. He serves on the piano faculty of New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School and is artistic director of Tutti Music and Arts in New York and Lincoln Music School in Boston.

Wang has adjudicated the Gershwin International Piano Competition, Irvine Music Competition, and Fou Tsong Concerto Competition. His students have received prizes in the Bay State, Gershwin, Hartford Chopin, PianoTexas Concerto, and Steinway Society of Massachusetts competitions, and have continued their studies at leading conservatories. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and his master’s and doctoral degrees at Manhattan School of Music.