Peiyu (Peggy) Yang, Age 15
USA
Score: 86.25
Peiyu (Peggy) Yang began playing piano at the age of four and violin at the age of six. She has been studying both instruments at Manhattan School of Music (MSM) Precollege for nine years with straight A, and is currently a sophomore at Bergen County Academies, Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology, in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Peggy is a frequent winner of violin competitions, including the 2017 International Shining Stars Debut Competition – performing with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta in October 2017, semifinalist in the 2017 Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Competition, 2018 International Music Organization (IMO) New York Concerto Debut Competition – performing with the IMO Orchestra in June 2018, 1st Place in the 2017 Elite Competition, 1st Place in the 2018 National Artists’ Competition, 1st Place in the 2018 Grand Virtuoso Competition, with an invitation to perform in Vienna, and Bronze Medal in the 2018 Young Maestro Competition, Young Artists Category. She has been studying violin with Elizabeth Faidley since 2016 and currently plays in the MSM Precollege Philharmonic Orchestra.
On piano, Peggy was the 1st place winner of MSM Precollege 2012-2013 Concerto Competition. She was also the Grand Winner of the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition in multiple years and the semi-finalist in the Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, among many other awards. In May 2018, Peggy held a solo piano recital at MSM featuring works by Bach, Chopin, and Ravel.
Besides music, Peggy loves math, science, and computer programming. She has won many math competitions throughout the years, including Honorable Mention in the 2017 Math Prize For Girls competition at MIT and is a five-time qualifier of the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. She will be furthering her mathematical studies this summer at the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS) at Boston University. Peggy has co-founded TechKids, a not-for-profit club teaching programming to elementary and middle school students. In her free time, Peggy enjoys classical and Broadway singing, figure skating, hiking, traveling, and baking.
Violin Concerto in E Minor, mvt. I, Mendelssohn, 11:54 https://youtu.be/DFmFMQdariI
