Awards:

Reviews:

The New York Times | The Washington Post | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Kultur By Monika Willer | Westfalischerundsehau | Cincinnati Enquirer | Daily Herald | Wiconsin State Journal | Strad Magazine | Strings Magazine | Chicago Classical Review

What Critics are Saying...

Yang Liu is a violinist of the highest quality with a stage presence that is restrained yet empathetic, and he nailed every requirement of this treacherous piece with ease.

Chicago Classical Review

“Liu Yang wowed the opening-night audience with a scorching performance of Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy…”

The New Tork Times

" The audience cheered as Liu fired off a few rockets of his own….”

The Washington Post

" Last night we saw Yang Liu, a 24 year-old Chinese violinist, play Paganini's first violin concerto. Unbelievable… Yang, elegant in a black silk kung-fu suit was almost impossibly composed through the whole thing. Near the end of the third movement, he broke a string. Finishing a run, he turned to Beth Newdome, acting as concertmaster, traded violins and finished the piece playing with incredible accuracy on a borrowed violin. The concerts here were Yang Liu's first in North America. He is amazing and will certainly be playing to rave reviews. We're quite lucky to have seen him and Gil Shaham in the same year."

Jonathan Peterson

" The Nielsen brought the debut of an outstanding young Chinese violinist, Yang Liu. The concerto calls for an interesting mixture of virtuosity and expression, and Yang delivered on both counts. Technically incredibly adept, he made a strong impression. Yang and Spano seemed to have good rapport with each other and the orchestra."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"It is highly to the Chinese violinist Yang Liu’s credit that he chose this Leonard Bernstein Serenade, ambitious, deep-spirited work rather than one of the virtuoso standards. Yang Liu proves already with the introductory solo Elegie that he wants to be more – a violin wonder with racing fast fingers. He meets the depth and the tension, he jazzes and sings, masters the highly virtuosic attacks and integrates the complex rhythms to a richly felt musical confession. The orchestral musicians truly enjoy the dialogue with the sympathetic soloist, the strings bubble over with the joy of playing, and the numerous percussion parts purport a dance-like tempo."

Kultur By Monika Willer

World-class Violinist Enravishes Audience to Thundering Applause

"What makes Yang Liu’s violin playing so fascinating? It penetrates the artist, for whom technical problems are not an issue, to the tips of the toes. He forms a unit with his valuable Amati and brandishes the bow like a swordsman does his foil. Dynamics are entirely unpretentiously built up to excess."

Westfalischerundsehau

Scanned images of Magazine / Newspaper articles

Cincinnati Enquirer

Daily Herald (April 25, 2006)

Wisconsin State Journal (August 25, 2005)

Strad Magazine (October, 2005)

Strings Magazine (November, 2005)