Hailed by critics as possessing “the requisite touch of poetry that eludes so many pianists,” Dr. Chia-Lin Yang has toured throughout the United States, Canada, and her native Taiwan as a concert pianist and chamber musician.
Top prizes at the Seattle International Piano Competition and Kingsville Isabel Scionti Solo Piano Competition helped launch a performance career which has included concerts at Benaroya Hall and the Banff Centre’s Rolston Recital Hall as well as a national broadcast on WQXR in Minnesota. Additional competition awards include the National Arts and Letters Competition, WAMSO Young Artist Competition, Camerata Concerto Competition, and Wideman Piano Concerto Competition. She is a recipient of the Helen von Ammon Fund for Emerging Artists and the Doug Davis Composition and Performance Award.
As a collaborative artist, Chia-Lin has appeared in concert with Queen Elisabeth Gold Medalist Ik-Hwan Bae, and has been featured on chamber music series throughout the Bay Area including the Santa Cruz Chamber Players, Benicia Chamber Players, St. Paul Concert Series and Noon Concerts of Ira. F Brilliant Beethoven Center. She was previously a member of the Aristo Trio and Yang-Shin-Bate Trio, and most recently co-founded the Verve Trio with violinist Elbert Tsai and cellist Brady Anderson. The ensemble was awarded the Gold Prize from the 2022 Amadeus International Music Awards of Salzburg and a grant from the Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
Passionately dedicated to teaching, Chia-Lin serves on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz and San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division. She was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in 2025 and also received the 2025 Goodler Foundation Piano Teacher’s Grant. Her students have won prizes at international and national competitions including the César Franck Piano Competition, American Beethoven Society Celia Méndez Competition, WPTA Finland International Piano Competition, Costa Rica Piano Competition, KAMSA, US International Music Competition, MTAC Piano Competition, Golden State Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, International Grand Music Competition, and Junior Bach Festival. They also participate in youth symphonies, chamber music programs, concert series, and summer music festivals around the world.
Chia-Lin received her Doctor of Music and Master of Music Degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Evelyne Brancart and André Watts.