(cello)

Curriculum vitae

Wen-Sinn Yang, cello

The son of Taiwanese parents, cellist Wen-Sinn Yang was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1965. After studying with Claude Starck in Zürich and Wolfgang Boettcher in Berlin, Yang completed master classes with Janos Starker and David Geringas. At the age of 24 he became principal cellist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In 1991 Yang won first prize at the Geneva International Music Competition. Since then he has appeared in the concert halls of Europe, Taiwan and Japan with some of the world’s most renowned conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Semyon Bychkov and Yuri Termirkanov. He is also a regular guest at music festivals in St Moritz, Davos, Biel and Dresden.

Yang has appeared on numerous occasions as a soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Lorin Maazel’s direction. To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the orchestra's Musica Viva concert series, Yang played the European premiere of Maazel's concerto Music for Cello and Orchestra. Further performances followed in Italy, Spain and at the opening concert of the Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta. In 1997 Yang was the soloist for two world premieres: Huang-Long Pan’s cello concerto in Taipei and Kevin Volans’ cello concerto in Munich.

Yang also enjoys an excellent reputation as a teacher. From 1995 to 1997 he taught at the Saarbrücken Academy of Music and continues to conduct cello master classes throughout Germany, Italy and Switzerland today.

Yang's extensive repertoire is well-documented on compact disc. He has recorded J. S. Bach’s solo Suites and the cello concertos of Tchaikovsky (Rococo Variations) and Karl Davidov, as well as cello concertos by Dvorak and Schumann. A new recording for ARTS Music—using advanced 24-bit/96 kHz technology—of four cello concertos by Luigi Boccherini is available on CD and DVD. Further CD projects include the release of a collection of 20^th century solo works played by Yang entitled Violoncello XX.

Some of Yang’s recent performances include Dvorak's cello concerto with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra during their first tour of Spain, an appearance as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony in Munich, the Israel Northern Symphony in Haifa and the Taiwan National Symphony in Taipei. These performances included Ernest Bloch's Schelomo and works by Boccherini and Lalo.