17 year old pianist Sean Yeh

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Painting: "Mazeppa" by Louis Boulanger (1827)

Today we heard from 17 year old pianist Sean Yeh, of Libertyville High School and of the Music Institute Academy for Gifted Pre-College Classical Musicians. Sean has performed with both the CSO and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and in January came in first place at the Steinway Young Artists Solo Piano Competition.

He performed an incredible piece by Liszt called the "Mazeppa," which is based on a poem by Victor Hugo about a young page from Poland who is punished by his nobleman. He's strapped onto a galloping horse, survives, and is made king because of it.

Listen to the Liszt "Mazeppa" Etude separately:


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17 year old pianist Sean Yeh

Program:

Franz Liszt -- Transcendental Etude No. 4, "Mazeppa"

Ludwig van Beethoven -- Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op.57, “Appassionata”
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante con moto – attacca
III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto

Biography

Sean began taking violin lessons when he was four and at six, he began piano. Sean is a member of the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy program for gifted pre-college musicians where he studies privately with MIC artist faculty member Matthew Hagle. He studies additionally with Alan Chow from Northwestern University. Sean has won many honors as a solo pianist. In 2006 he won first place in the Sejong Music Competition and was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Baldwin Junior Piano Competition. Sean was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Yamaha Senior Piano Competition in 2008. Sean also won third prize in the Piano Arts National Piano Competition and performed with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 Sean won first prize in the Eighteenth Annual Steinway Young Artists Solo Piano Competition.

As an award of winning the Steinway Society’s ‘Chicagoland’s Most Promising Student Pianist’ competition at the age of 8, Sean’s performance was broadcast on WNIB radio. In 2005, he was invited to perform at the 10th World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Anaheim, California. Sean has performed with concert pianist Alpin Hong at the Music Institute of Chicago’s 75th Anniversary Gala honoring violinist Midori and with concert pianist Christopher O’Riley at the Lied Center of the University of Kansas. His solo performance appearances include the Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, Skokie Public Library (Young Steinway Concert Series), the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at the Millennium Park, Chicago WFMT radio, and From the Top radio show. Sean has worked with some of the most internationally renowned piano teachers at master classes including John Perry, Pawel Skrzypek, Lee Kum-Sing, and Thomas Hecht. Sean made his orchestra debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a pianist in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals in 2008.

Sean is an avid chamber musician and has performed with the BAM Quartet (viola and piano) and Esprit Piano Trio. As the violist of the BAM Quartet, Sean won a bronze medal in the 2005 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and later broadcast on the NPR program, From the Top, and WFMT radio. The Quartet has appeared in several concerts and venues including Young Steinway Concert Series, Music in the Loft and NEIU’s Mostly Music Concert Series. As the pianist of the Esprit Trio, Sean has performed at the 2007 MIC Gala honoring legendary pianist Leon Fleisher and at a workshop with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble. The Esprit Trio also received Honorable Mention in the 2006 Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition.

Sean is a senior at Libertyville High School and enjoys math, computer programming, and reading.