Currently living in Melbourne, Yiyun Gu appears frequently on stage with the passion for sharing her love of music with more people. She has quickly established herself as a solo concert pianist and a chamber artist.

 

Yiyun started to learn piano at the age of 3 when she was in Shanghai. She had her first concerto experience with orchestra when she was 12, performing Mozart F major, and then the Yellow River Concerto when she was 13. She was the 2nd prize winner of the Zhi-Yin Youth Piano Competition at 1999 Shanghai Spring Music Festival.

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Most recently, Yiyun performed several solo recitals at Melbourne Recital Centre, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival (2017 and 2019). In October 2019, she worked with Australian New Goldberg Orchestra, performing arrangements of Chinese folk music by composer Bao Yuan-Kai. 

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In 2016, Yiyun performed two Beethoven sonatas: Op.2 No.3 and Appassionata at Brunswick Beethoven Festival. In 2015, she performed a fund-raising concert for the Dili Hospital, presented by the East Timor Hospital Support, the Team of Pianists, and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). In 2014, She Performed at Government House for the Governor of Victoria and guests from the Chinese Government. She has played many times for 3MBS radio station, Music Lovers’ Society of Victoria, and Allen House Concert Series at Ormond College. In March 2013, Yiyun was one of the 27 Australia’s finest pianists performing for 3MBS Beethoven Marathon at The Edge in Federation Square, Melbourne. In 2011, she performed with the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra at Melbourne Town Hall, and was selected to take part in the Music Festival at Australia National Academy of Music.

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Yiyun has been working closely with sought-after violinist Matthew Rigby. The duo group "Rigby and Gu" has performed in many music events and venues including Melbourne Recital Centre since 2021, the year when it was formed. In 2022, they performed Mendelssohn Concerto for piano, Violin and Strings with Melbourne Sinfonia. 

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Yiyun Gu completed Master of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music with Stephen McIntyre AM, who is one of Australia’s most distinguished pianists and teachers. In 2015, Yiyun traveled to UK with a scholarship and a grant to participate in the Chetham’s International Summer School and Festival for Pianists, where she had master classes with many international pianists including Leslie Howard, Murray McLachlan, Graham Scott, and Helen Krizos. In 2016, she participated in Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival in Lucca, Italy, where she performed chamber music with musicians from Europe and America, and had lessons with Boris Berman.

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Yiyun has participated in many national and international piano competitions, such as China International Piano Competition and Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition in Australia. She was awarded the 3rd prize at the 2015 ASKM (Australian Society for Keyboard Music) Gold Coast Open Piano Competition. She was one of the finalists of Australian National Piano Award in the years of both 2012 and 2014. 

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Besides her musical attributes, Yiyun has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in commerce.

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Interview in Limelight Magazine

https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/pianist-yiyun-gu-on-east-meets-west/