Celebrating its 35th year, the College of Charleston’s International Piano Series (IPS) will open its 2025-2026 season with a concert by world-renowned musician Wei-Yi Yang. Winner of the gold medal at the San Antonio International Piano Competition and currently Professor of Piano at Yale School of Music, Yang has received worldwide acclaim for his captivating performances and imaginative programming.
"Wei-Yi Yang is a unique artist with an entirely original approach to the piano and to thinking about the music he performs. I know that his concert will be captivating, and his masterclass is sure to keep our students on their toes – his lessons always kept me on mine,” says IPS Artistic Director Tom Hicks.
Wei-Yi Yang has performed at numerous esteemed venues such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in addition to other locales around the globe. His debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium as the soloist in Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie was hailed by The New York Times as “sensational.”
In demand as a dedicated educator, he has performed and taught in Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Serbia and Montenegro, among other countries around the world. Most recently, his master class teaching has taken him to Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Drake Universities, Manhattan School of Music and New England Conservatory, Conservatorio Superior de Música de las Islas Baleares in Spain, Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Boccherini in Italy, Tsinghua University and China Conservatory, among many other esteemed institutions on four continents.
The IPS concert will take place Tuesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m., in the Sottile Theatre, 44 George St. and is sponsored by the Remington Master Artist Series. The performance will include Papillons and the Paganini Etudes by Schumann and the Klavierstücke by Schubert.
Season subscriptions for all four IPS concerts are available at a discounted rate. Individual concert tickets range from $10 to $38, which include discounts for CofC students and employees. Subscriptions and tickets can be purchased through the George Street Box Office online, at the door, by emailing gsbo@cofc.edu, or by calling (843) 953-4726. Patrons can find info and ticket links at go.charleston.edu/pianoconcert
The rest of the IPS season features a stellar roster of performers: Richard Goode (Nov. 18, 2025), Drew Petersen (Feb. 3, 2026) and Christopher Goodpasture (April 7, 2026). For more information about the artists, visit go.charleston.edu/pianoconcert.