Classical Guitar: Xuefei Yang
Xuefei Yang is acclaimed as one of the world ’s finestclassical guitarists. She was hailed as a musical pioneer. Xuefeiwas the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, andbecame the first internationally recognised Chinese guitarist onthe world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age often and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador inChina presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madridat the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigoand, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of hisown instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especiallyfor her and other advanced students.
Xuefei was born in Beijing, and is a graduate of Beijing’sCentral Conservatoire of Music, and went on to become thefirst Chinese musician to receive a full scholarship fopostgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she received the Principal’s Prize on completion of her postgraduate study.
Her international success has led her to be invited to play in more than 50 countries at numerousprestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, all Southbank venues, and Royal Albert Hall in London.Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de E'spana, Barcelona Auditorium Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center New York, In Asia she has appeared at the National Concert Hall TaipeiHong Kong City Hall & Cultural Center, Eisplanade Singapore, Seoul Arts Centre and gave the first guitarrecital and concerto in the Beijing National Center of Performing Arts. Xuefei has also been invited toperform at major music festivals such as BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai MISAFestival and the Beijing international Music Festival. In 2003 she performed 54 concerts for the “Night of the Proms” 'Tour, appearing in Belgium, 'T'he Netherlands and Germany, to a total audience of over800,000 people.
Xuefei is frequently invited to play with the world’s leading orchestras including Royal PhilharmonicOrchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scotland National OrchestraRoyal Liverpool Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, HongKong Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, SeoulPhilharmonic, China Philharmonic. Xuefei’s recent highlights include return performances with EnglishChamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Wintertour Philharmonic, debut performances with Beijing Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra giving the Asianpremier of the 'The Albeniz Concerto written for Xuefei by Stephen Goss, and an Australian tour withMelbourne Symphony Orchestra which marked the Australian premier of 'Tan Dun’s guitar concerto.performance in BBC Proms with Ulster Orchestra, and performance with Orchestre National de Franceon Bastille Day.
Gramophone magazine praised Xuefei as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuingto build the guitar repertoire. Xuefei is committed to commissioning new works and making her ownarrangements, with a particular interest in adding Chinese music and chamber music, many of which haveappeared on her recordings.
Xuefei has made many albums including several acclaimed recordings for EMI Classics and Decca. Herfirst recording received a gold disc & her second was selected as Editor’s Choice’in Gramophonemagazine. Several of the recordings reflect Xuefei’s interest in expanding the repertoire. A concertoalbum recorded with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue, featuring Rodrigo’sConcerto de Aranjuez & Goss’Albeniz Concerto, Another recording of “Bach Concertos” featuredXuefei’ s innovative transcriptions of solo works and concertos by ].S. Bach. Xuefei has released twc“Colours of Brazil” and “ Heartstringsalbums in 2016, her solo album”which continue hersuccessful performance on diverse musical styles. In 2018, DG released the duet album “Milonga DelAngel” by Xuefei and Mengla Huang, The album“Sketches of China” released by Decca in August2020 presents the Chinese music in various forms, It aims to promote Chinese culture and developsrepertoire for guitar. T'he album “Sketches of China” has been highly praised worldwidely. In May 2022Xuefei’s recording “Magna Cartaincluding the complete works for guitar by composer JohnBrunning has been released - the album features her recording alongside the Royal iverpool PhilharmonicOrchestra, with a special guest appearance from star celist johannes Moser and hit highly on both theUSA Bilboard charts and UK official charts, Released by Decca in November 2022, her latest solo album“Guitar Favourites”featured a collection of much-loved guitar works known to classical guitar loversaround the world.
