Pipa performer Yang Jin is a leading Pipa soloist of her generation. She graduated from the world-renowned Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with distinguished honors for her master's degree. In 2004, she won the Silver Award in the most prestigious Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music.
As a collaborating musician of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, she joined the Great music epic "Layla and Majnun" world tour in 2016. Jin is an instructor of the University of Delaware Master Players Concert & festival and a judge of the Hummingbird International Music Festival & Competition at Eastman School of Music.
She is also an adjunct pipa instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma and the featured pipa performer of the 2020 Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival. Her performance vivifies contrarieties of sentiments and inspires magnificent imaginations.
Born in Datong, Shanxi Province, in 1982, Yang Jin began her study of Liuqin at age four and that of Pipa at age nine. In 1994, she became a student of the well-known educator Professor Junsheng Wu. In 1995, at the age of 11, Jin was admitted into the world-famous Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with the highest national score and remained in first place through 14 years of school until graduating in 2009.
She studied Pipa under the tutelage of celebrated Professors Weixi Sun and Hui Li and received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Department of National Music. She also received instruction from many Pipa virtuosos and educators, such as Lin Shicheng, Wu Man, Zhang Hongyan, Zhang Qiang, and Yang Jing.
Many awards have been awarded to Jin, including first prize in the “Tian Hua Cup” Juvenile Traditional Music competition at age 15. She also won first place in the junior and senior secondary of the "Dragon Sound Cup" National Instrumental Music Competition in 1998 and 2000. In November 2004, she received a Silver Award in the most prestigious Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music. In 2008, she received 2nd place in the International Chinese Folk Instrument Competition in San Francisco. In November 2009, Jin won the 16th Taipei National Music Competition Merit Award. It received commendation from the committee chair, Mr. Lin Gufang, that she proved herself to be “The most potential soloist”.
Jin has remained very active on stage both in China and overseas. She has performed in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, France, the United States, Britain, Japan, and the Philippines, including more than 50 tours in Japan and dozens of concert tours with Richard Clayderman, which have all been successful and acclaimed. Japan TV NHK and newspapers widely reported her interview and her music group's story in 2006. While in China, Jin served as a core member of the Youth Chinese Orchestra of China, the Chinese Plucking Orchestra of the Central Conservatory of Music, the Girls Band of Orient, and the Chinese Orchestra of Feng Huang. In addition to numerous solo concerts and recordings published in more than ten albums in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and other places, her album “folk music master Pipa Solo” has won both Gold production and Gold sales at the China International Exposition of Audio-Visual Industry in 2006.
Yang Jin has performed as a soloist with many well-known orchestras, including the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Macao Chinese Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Japan's Royal City Orchestra, the DongFang Chinese Orchestra, the Chinese Orchestra of Central Conservatory of Music and The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh. She also collaborated with many distinguished musicians, such as Song Fei, Zhang Hongyan, Richard Clayderman, Hu Zhiping, Wu Yuxia, and Gao Xiang. As an outstanding representative of young musicians in China, National CCTV invited her to record large programs, including "The Same Song," "Chinese Fragrance," and "Come into China." At the Chinese New Year Festival and as an ambassador of Chinese music, she visited Peking University, Beijing Normal University, University of Michigan, Waseda University, Soka University, and National Taiwan University.
From 2009-2013, Jin continued to teach and perform actively. She was an assistant professor at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and a solo performer and Pipa chief of the Dongfang Chinese Orchestra. Furthermore, she participated in the famous QinTai concert hall and BianZhong music hall. She continued progressing and expanding her performing career, making her instructions fruitful for her students. Three of her students won the Merit Award of The First LiaoYuan Pipa International competition for professionals. One of her students won the Bronze medal in "The Voice of Youth" national Pipa competition for Professionals in 2012. Also, in 2012, Jin was the guest performer by the National Class Conductor Pang Ka Pang of the Macao Chinese Orchestra at the "Voice of Macao "series opening concert.
In 2010, Jin was the only Pipa player from China invited by Carnegie Hall for the first-ever “Kronos Quartet and Wu Man Master Class.” In 2011, Jin performed with Imusic4 China Magpie and other renowned musicians in the University of Delaware MASTER Players Concert Series, such as Tong Wu, Lin Liu, Yong Guan, and Professor Xiang Gao.
As a collaborating musician of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, she joined the Great music epic "Layla and Majnun" world tour 2016, gracing iconic venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and Harris Theater. Jin is an instructor at the University of Delaware Master Players Concert & Festival and a Hummingbird International Music Competition judge at Eastman School of Music.
Since 2013, Yang Jin has led various crossover ensembles, including the Cleveland Chinese Music Ensemble, Pittsburgh Purple Bamboo Music Ensemble, Helio Phoenix Trio, HarmoniZing, J4, and Summer Wind Jazz Ensemble and performed hundreds of concerts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, New York, and New Jersey. She fosters cross-cultural innovation and collaboration through these endeavors and has earned widespread acclaim.
Having been profitably trained with rigor for decades and diverse performance experiences, Jin Yang’s techniques have advanced, and her ability for artistic expression and representation—above all, her ability to exert the contagious charisma of music has continually been bettered. Jin Yang has been reputed as one of the artists “most articulate when on stage.”
Ms. Mildred Miller, renowned master vocalist and mezzo-soprano teaching at Carnegie Mellon University, once commented on Jin, “Her music springs from the heart, pure because of clarity, noble due to richness of spirituality. Free flows of ease and grace issue forth from her plucking fingers, like a river meandering through mountains, highs, and lows, and into each listener’s heart. ”