Senior Division Finalist
Final Round Program:
L.V. BEETHOVEN – Sonata in C Major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"
I. Allegro con brio
ALDO LÓPEZ-GAVILÁN – Toccata de guitarra para piano from Suite for Piano
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN – Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 35
I. Grave - Doppio Movimento
II. Scherzo
III. Marche funèbre
IV. Finale
SAMUEL BARBER – Fugue from Sonata for Piano in E Flat Minor, Op. 26
Alex Yang is a grade ten student at the Halifax Grammar School and has been a student of Professor Lynn Stodola since he was 7. He is also studying concurrently at the Royal Conservatory’s Phil and Eli Taylor Academy (Toronto) in the Senior Piano Program with Michael Berkovsky. Other studies include Orford Musique Summer Academy with André Laplante, John Perry and David Jalbert, Lunenburg Academy of Musical Performance masterclasses with Jane Coop and Angela Hewitt, and masterclasses with Robert McDonald, John O’Conor, Stephen Beus, and Charles Richard-Hamelin. This past summer he was the youngest of 10 international pianists selected to participate in a week-long masterclass with Angela Hewitt in the Trasimeno Music Festival Masterclasses. In the final concert, Alex was praised by music critic Christopher Axworthy for his “remarkable clarity and sense of line on a dynamic rhythmic base of great nobility” as well as his “remarkable sensitivity.”
Alex has performed in many significant concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Ateneo de Madrid, the Auditorium Maranium in Perugia, Italy, Mazzoleni Hall in the Royal Conservatory, and the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium where he was featured soloist with Symphony Nova Scotia for their outreach program for students in the Nova Scotia public school system. He has played with various orchestras, including Symphony Nova Scotia, Chebucto Symphony Orchestra, Nova Sinfonia, Toronto Sinfonietta, and the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra.
Alex has been nominated on the CBC’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30” list of 2023. Representing Nova Scotia in the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Association (CFMTA) competition in July 2023, Alex received the Chopin Society Prize for an outstanding performance of a work by Chopin, the Most Promising Artist Award, and the overall Third Prize.
Representing Nova Scotia in 2022, Alex was the first place winner in the piano category of the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals (FCMF) National Final Competition. He then proceeded to become the grand prize winner after an internationally acclaimed panel of adjudicators unanimously declared him as the overall winner among all first place winners in all instrumental disciplines. Included in his winnings was a professional performance opportunity with the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (LAMP), which he performed a 90-minute solo recital on December 3rd, 2023. The following year, 2023, Alex won the Second Prize in the FCMF National Final Competition in the strings category.
In June 2019, he won first place in both piano and violin in the Canadian Music Competition (CMC)’s national final in Calgary, Alberta. At 10 years old, he was the overall Grand Prize winner for all instruments in the age 7 - 10 category. He was also chosen as a “favorite” in the 2020 CMC in the age 11-14 years category of the Quebec and Maritimes region of Canada, and in 2022 he won first place.
Locally, Alex has been a regular participant of the Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival since he was 7. He has won numerous awards, including the Doctor Piano and Yamaha Rose Bowl, the President’s Cup, and a bursary from the Lunenberg Academy of Music Performance. He has been a regular recipient of scholarships from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust since he was 8 years old, winning the Raymond Simpson Award in 2022.
Aside from piano, Alex was also a first violinist in the NSYO and studies violin with Dr. Leonardo Perez. He also likes badminton, swimming, debating, and computer programming.
Piano Competition Home Page
