yu-hans-derekHans-Derek Yu is from Egg Harbor Township, NJ.  He has been studying piano since age 5 and has studied with Professor Veda Zuponcic of Rowan University since age 7.

Hans-Derek has won numerous competitions, including the Old York Road Symphony Young Artists Competition where he will perform with the Old York Road Symphony in concert in April, 2017.  He also won first place in the West Chester University Annual Pre-Collegiate Competition Children Category in 2012 and Junior Category in 2016; first place in the Greater Princeton Steinway Society Piano Competition in 2012 and 2015; first place in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition in 2016, and the Concerto Competition at Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota in 2012, 2014, and 2016, where he performed in concert with the Northern Lights Music Festival Orchestra.

At 11, the youngest contestant in his age category, Hans-Derek won the Eastern Division of MTNA and advanced to the National Finals. In January 2017, he won the Eastern Division of MTNA competition again, and will now compete in the national finals on March 18 in Baltimore.  He was also a finalist in the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Concerto Competition in 2014, and again in 2015.  In 2014, Hans-Derek won first place in the Osaka (Japan) International Music Competition solo category, performed in the Grand Gala, and received the Osaka Mayor Award.

Aside from piano, Hans was selected as a member of the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent of Johns Hopkins University as a result of his outstanding academic achievement.

 

Repertoire

Round I

Bach                                                     English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807  Prelude, Allemande, Courante

Chopin                                                  Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Ligeti                                                     Études (Book Two), XIII. L’Escalier du diable

 

Round II

Beethoven                                           Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57  Appassionata

Liszt                                                     Tarantella from Années de pèlerinage:  Venezia e Napoli                             

 

 

Round III

Schumann                                           Concerto in A minor, Op. 54