Yang Bao

Multi-dimensional in his pursuits, Yang Bao works across piano, composition, sound sculpture, painting, photography, and film, blending these practices as his profile rose and securing projects for global clients including Dior, which backed the "MADLANDS" exhibition of pieces by Bao and partner Wa Liu at Shanghai's Long Museum.

Born September 3, 1991, in Lanzhou, China, he started piano studies at age three, an experience that immediately drew him to the instrument's resonance with surrounding natural sounds. After relocating to New York, he joined Juilliard School's Pre-college program in 2001, made his first public appearance at fifteen in Philadelphia's Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, and received an invitation to play at the White House in 2009. He enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2011, completing a bachelor's degree in piano performance in 2015 and a master's in 2018 under Bruce Brubaker and Wha Kyung Byun. During those years he expanded beyond solo keyboard work by directing the 2018 film DUALISM, which showcased violinist Jennifer Koh and the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble in Kaija Saariaho's Graal théâtre.

In 2020 he released the recording MOTION, performing on piano alongside cellist Oliver Herbert. The next year brought the album Apparitions, containing works by Schumann, Mozart, and Schubert, plus a pivotal moment when he and Wa Liu unveiled the film Late Night Savage, built around his composition of that title, together with the "Godspeed" exhibition of paintings and sound installations at Shanghai's Cc Foundation and Art Center. He appeared with the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing for Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 in 2022 and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 in 2023. Also in 2023, the Festival Orchestra Napa under conductor Kyle Dickson premiered Bao's piano concerto First Day on Mars. In 2024 Dior again supported Bao and Liu for the multimedia exhibition "MADLANDS" at the Long Museum in Shanghai, incorporating stainless steel and 24-karat gold sound sculptures along with oil paintings, while Bao installed the permanent outdoor sound sculpture "HYPERSPACE" at the Donum Estate in Sonoma, California.