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Moi

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Hong Kong-born British Pianist Yau Cheng is an intuitive musician and experienced collaborative pianist. She earned both her Master and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (USA) under the tutelage of Emile Naoumoff, who was Nadia Boulanger's last protégé in Paris. Yau later continued her studies with Caroline Palmer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, gaining a Master of Music in Piano Accompaniment with distinction. She then held positions as Leverhulme Artist and Junior Fellow in Piano Accompaniment at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Emile and Yau's recording of sonatas for piano four-hands by Theodore Gouvy was released by Naxos in 2014.


Since relocating to London, Yau has performed in the Purcell Room at Southbank Centre, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bristol Beacon, City of London Festival, Winchester Chamber Music Festival and venues around the UK, collaborating with renowned musicians like cellist Stefan Popov and harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet. Yau has played extensively for the Voice, Opera, and Choral Departments at both Indiana University and the Guildhall School, working closely with Sarah Walker and Samantha Malk, and playing for numerous lessons, exams, classes, auditions and recitals. She was furthermore a proud member of the Singing Hoosiers. Besides working with singers, she has accompanied the studios of cellists Janos Starker, Stefan Popov and Helga Winold, violinists Jacqueline Ross and Mark Kaplan, harpist Susann McDonald, among others. Yau continues to be in demand as a collaborative pianist, she is now a staff accompanist at the Guildhall School and works with the Intermediate Choir of Finchley Children's Music Group.


Apart from performing, Yau assisted Emile Naoumoff in the final stages of his book {My Chronicles with Nadia Boulanger}, archiving decades' worth of material from his concert career. As a professional music engraver and editor, Yau's works have been published by Schott, Mainz, and she has created new editions for some of Lili Boulanger's unpublished piano pieces. Yau was on the faculty of Indiana University’s Young Pianists Programme, and was an Adjunct Lecturer for undergraduate music theory and aural skills classes. She also studied the harp with Professor Elzbieta Szmyt. Yau remains a keen art song sightreader and piano duettist.

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