Warm Prompt:
Children under the age of six or 1.2 meters will not be admitted. Each audience should have a ticket (ID card is also needed) regardless of the age.

 

 

Cello: Yibai Chen
Prize winner of four international cello competitions, Yibai Chen is emerging as one of the most promising cellists of his generation. His playing has been described as “nothing short of remarkable”, “a flawless technique yet displaying sincere tenderness and sensitivity” and “a personal sound and true stage presence”.
 
At the age of 16 in 2018, Chen was awarded two top prizes at the 10th Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw and the 60th George Enescu International Cello Competition in Bucharest in the same year as the youngest participant. In June 2019 he won the fifth prize at the 16th Tchaikovsky International Cello competition in Saint Petersburg. Chen’s most recent achievement was in June 2022 by winning the second prize at the 2nd Queen Elisabeth International Cello Competition in Brussels.
 
Chen has recently performed numerous successful concerts such as playing Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with Belgium National Orchestra under the baton of Eivind Aadland on a Belgium tour; recitals with pianist Boyang Shi on a China tour; a Korea tour with cellist Hayoung Choi and pianist Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort. Chen was also exclusively invited by conductor Teodor Currentzis to be part of his newly founded Utopia Orchestra’s very first tour project in Europe.
 
Chen has extensive musical experience since his early time. In 2013 and 2015 he was selected for Morningside Music Bridge, an international music campus presented by Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. In 2016 he participated in a masterclass given by Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at Cello Akademie Rutesheim and he was chosen to perform Sarasate “Zigeunerweisen” with Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim at the closing concert of the festival. Since the age of 11, he has started performing frequently with Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Muhai Tang.
 
Since winning his first international prize in 2018, Chen has been invited to perform at many prestigious festivals and concert venues. He performed Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with Amadeus Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Agnieszka Duczmal at the “Chopin and His Europe” Festival in Warsaw. In June 2019 he performed Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz directed by Eckart Manke. In August he performed Haydn’s D Major Cello Concerto at Brooklyn Theatre in South-Africa with Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gina Beukes and was immediately invited back to perform with Cape Town Philharmonic and to give a recital in Pretoria. In September he was invited to play at the renowned “George Enescu Festival” with Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Nicolas Piovani. In November at the opening concert of “Viva Cello” Festival in Moscow, he performed Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso No.1 with Danjulo Ishizaka and German cellist Claudio Bohorquez with Russian Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Maciej Tworek. In the same month he performed Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Feng Ning and Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Peng Liu; he has given performances at the 4th International Shanghai Cello Festival. During 2020-21, Chen often collaborated with pianist Boyang Shi and played recitals in Jaguar·Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, Cadillac·Shanghai Concert Hall, Jiangsu Grand Theatre, and so forth. In July 2021, he was invited to play Philip Glass Cello Concerto No.1 as his debut with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra directed by Long Yu at the closing concert of the 12th “MISA” Music Festival.
 
Chen was born in 2001 and embarked on his cello career at the age of five and had been trained under Professor Meijuan Liu in Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music until the end of 2016. In 2017 he moved to Berlin to study with Professor Danjulo Ishizaka at the University of the Arts Berlin. Currently Chen continues his studies with Prof. Ishizaka at the University of Music Basel. He has took part in masterclasses given by David Geringas, Jens Peter Maintz, Jian Wang, Martti Rousi, Liwei Qin, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Gabriel Schwabe, Wen-Sinn Yang; violinist Daniel Hope and pianist Jacques Ammon.
 
In 2020 December, Chen has been invited to sign as “Young Artist in Residence at Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music”. Chen is playing on a cello by Joseph Guadagnini ca. 1780-1800 on loan of German Foundation “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Hamburg”.
 

Piano: Boyang Shi
Chinese pianist Boyang Shi, her performances have been regarded as “excellent interpretations of the works as well as rigorous playing thought.” (Hannover Zeitung),
“The instantaneous change of tone and its subtlety were astonishing!” (Main Post).
 
Boyang Shi has successfully performed in various regions of the world, including the Salle Cortot, Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Jaguar • Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Cadillac • Shanghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou Opera House, Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts, Tianjin Grand Theater, Tianjin Concert Hall, Chengdu City Concert Hall, Xi’an Concert Hall, Zhongshan Culture and Art Center, Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Center, Bay Opera of Shenzhen, Wuxi Grand Theater and other venues.
 
The highlights of the last two years included the New Year Concert with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Spring Festival Concert with the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 as soloist, and the “Dream of back to Paris” solo piano tour in 2022, which took her to six cities across China, including solo premieres at the Guangzhou Opera House. In addition to solo concerts, Boyang Shi has been active as a chamber musician, working closely with Nobuko Imai, Tomas Riebl and many other musicians, and in 2022, she has successfully toured China with young cellist Yibai Chen for a total of 10 concerts. In the unusual year of 2020, Boyang Shi was invited to present the complete Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Fanglei Fenny Liu at Tianjin Concert Hall after the revival to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great composer Beethoven, which was highly praised by the industry and music lovers.
 
Boyang Shi has been invited to give solo concerts at international festivals such as the most prestigious Kissinger Sommer, Bad Sobernheim, Hanover Chopin Association, Hamburg Chopin Association, etc. Her solo concerts have been broadcasted by BR-Klassik, ARD, NDR, and other many German radio stations. She has performed with Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra, Macau Orchestra and Chamber Orchstra Sinfonietta Cologne. She has also collaborated with conductors such as Wangjian Ouyang, Qijian Jian and Cornelius Frowein.
 
She has participated and won many prizes in the world’s top competitions such as the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the USA. For example, she was the only Asian finalist to win the 14th Hanover Chopin International Piano Competition, prize winner in the 6th China International Piano Competition in 2013. In 2014, she was invited to participate in the Kissinger Klavierolymp at the Kissinger Sommer, where she won the grand prize with several top young pianists of her time. The award-winning concert was broadcast live on Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany).
 
Boyang Shi studied with Prof. Ma Lei, then enrolled in the Primary School of the Central Conservatory of Music and studied with Prof. Zhiwei Zhang, and was guaranteed admission to the Middle School of Central Conservatory of Music in 2006.
In 2010, she went to Germany to study at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover and the University of Music Detmold in Germany. She studied with the famous German piano educationalist Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, the distinguished Israeli pianist Arie Vardi and the famous contemporary pianist Alfredo Perl, and received the highest diploma (PhD) in German music industry in 2019. Boyang Shi has also benefited from several masters such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Matti Raekallio, Klaus Hellwig, Andrew Jasinski, Zhou Guangren, Li Qifang and Wu Ying.
 
Since 2018 Boynag Shi has moved to Shanghai and become a faculty member of
Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

 
Program
Beethoven: 12 Variations on “See The Conqu’ring Hero Comes” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus for Piano and Cello in G Major, WoO 45
 
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1
          I. Adagio sostenuto
          II. Allegro
          III. Rondo: Allegro vivace
 
Beethoven: 12 Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Piano and Cello in F Major, Op. 66
 
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
          I. Allegro ma non tanto
          II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
          III. Adagio cantabile - Allegro vivace
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)
 

 

 

 

Program
Beethoven: 12 Variations on “See The Conqu’ring Hero Comes” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus for Piano and Cello in G Major, WoO 45
 
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1
          I. Adagio sostenuto
          II. Allegro
          III. Rondo: Allegro vivace
 
Beethoven: 12 Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Piano and Cello in F Major, Op. 66
 
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
          I. Allegro ma non tanto
          II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
          III. Adagio cantabile - Allegro vivace
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)