Yixiang Hou

YIXIANG HOU, piano
Chinese pianist Yixiang Hou has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Taiwan Sanchong Orchestra, the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra, and the NEC  Philharmonia.  He  has  worked  with  several conductors, including  Xiaoou  Zhao, Jiahong Liao, and Andrew Litton. In 2005, he made his debut recital at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre.

At the age of ten, Yixiang won a prize in the Shanghai Haydn Piano Competition. Since then, he has won numerous competitions, including the Wiesbaden Piano Competition in 2009 and receiving awards in the Tianjin “Flying Melody” Competition and the Steinway Competition in Beijing. In 2016, he won both the NEC Piano Concerto Competition and the NEC Piano Honors Competition. In 2019, he was awarded first prize at the Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition, as well as third prize at the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition. Yixiang’s most recent accomplishments include winning first prize at the Charleston International Music Competition and the GRAND PRIX “CROWN OF STARS” at the Music and Stars Awards in 2021. In 2022, he won the silver prize at the International Keyboard Odyssiad Competition, fourth prize at the WPTA Spain International Piano Competition, and third prize at the MIMAS International Piano Competition. He was also the first prize winner of the 2022 New York International Artists Piano Competition.

Yixiang Hou has been  invited by  the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra’s  “What  I Hear” to perform, and held a  recital  for  the  Ruthmere  Fall  Series. His performances have taken him to venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall, among others. In 2022, Yixiang received a full scholarship to study with Arie Vardi at the Aspen Music Festival. He was  also  selected  to participate in the Tiziano  Rossetti Academy talent program. His debut album “Carnival” was released by KNS Classical in 2023. Huntley Dent of Fanfare magazine  stated, “A gifted  Chinese pianist who combines a powerful technique with poetry,” and Rorianne Schrade has praised him as “a gifted and adventurous young artist.” Reviewing  his recording, Fanfare magazine hailed it, saying, “This is a thoroughly satisfying debut performed at a high level of artistry and technique.”

Yixiang began his musical journey at the age of nine, studying with Qi Zhang, Weiling Chen, Dachun You, and Ting Zhou at the Music Middle School affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory. He moved to Boston in 2012 to study with Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory, as a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree on a full scholarship at CCM, studying with Ran Dank.

“Yixiang is an appealing, ingratiating performer whose natural pianistic skills are integrated within a musical personality so thoughtful and idealistic as to make the muses smile. Guided by his innate lyricism and tenderness, the music and player seem beautifully matched. “ – Wha kyung Byun, Piano faculty at New England Conservatory

“Yixiang is a wonderful pianist. He has great facility that is always meticulously employed at the service of the music. His performances are marked by seriousness and dedication, and he is a consummate musician who is able to draw his listeners in with his strong communicative skills.” – Ran Dank, Pianist

“Look no further than Yixiang Hou’s performance of ‘Mässige Viertel,’ the central piece in Arnold Schoenberg’s Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11, for a terrific example of the Chinese pianist’s artistry. Every piece Hou performs on the release… shows a lucid grasp of the material and a treatment meticulously fashioned in accordance with that understanding. Carnival might be his debut recording, but it presents a pianist who’s arrived fully formed… As debuts go, Carnival sets an incredibly high bar for whatever will follow.” – Textura Magazine

“Yixiang Hou more than deserves to have ‘virtuoso pianist and master musician’ embossed on his calling card based on his performance of Alkan’s Le Festin d’Ésope” – Jerry Dubbins, Fanfare Magazine

“Yixiang Hou is a player of fine technique and, much more importantly, interpretative depth.” – Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine

“To reach such a high level while still a student bodes well for Mr. Hou’s future, and he is certainly an artist to watch as he continues to explore.” – Rorianne Schrade, New York Concert Review Magazine

“Given the country’s enormous population and great number of large music conservatories, perhaps we should not be surprised that China is turning out more and more fine pianists. One takes for granted that hundreds of them will have brilliant techniques, and Yixiang Hou certainly passes that test. However, he also passes the more rigorous text, the one indicating maturity and musicianship.” – Henry Fogel, Fanfare Magazine

“It is clear that Yixiang Hou is a keyboard artist of considerable technical and
interpretive gifts. All of the works on Carnaval are played with arresting clarity and assurance. There is a most welcome elegance and lyricism in Yixiang Hou’s approach.” – Ken Meltzer, Fanfare Magazine

“Yixiang Hou, chameleon-like in adapting to the wide ranging styles, moods and needs of each piece, has persuaded me that it works and it’s certainly different to anything else I have been hearing lately. A pianist to watch.” – Rob Challinor, MusicWeb International

“Hou does a commendable job here [Scriabin’s ‘Black Mass’ Sonata] without getting to most daemonic levels I enjoy in performances by Sofronitsky, Ashkenazy, and Hamelin. Still, for a young pianist to be able to play music like this as well as Hou, I will be watching for his future endeavors.” – James Harrington, Fanfare Magazine

“One of the first things that struck me about this debut recital from Chinese pianist Yixiang Hou is the sensitivity of his touch and the poetry in his phrasing. … Hou is the happy exception, as he proves across a wide range of composers, culminating in the acid test for Romantic performance style, a major piano work by Schumann, in this case Carnaval. To be convincing in Schumann says everything about an aspiring pianist, and Hou’s reading is totally convincing.” – Huntley Dent, Fanfare Magazine