Alexander Yau in Recital for the Friends of SIPCA

The President The Hon. Bronwyn Bishop AO and the Friends Council have great pleasure in inviting the Friends to a Piano Recital by Vivian Choi on Sunday 20th September 2026 at 3pm at the Goethe Institut, 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra. Members $45.00, Non-Members $50.00.
Bookings online www.pianoplus.com.au/friends or phone Terry Mackin 9972 3556
 

PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven – 6 Variations on an original theme in F major Op. 34

 

Franz Schubert/Franz Liszt
Liebesbotschaft
Gretchen am Spinnrade
Auf dem Wasser zu singen
Der Müller und der Bach
Erlkönig

 

Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une infant défunte

Maurice Ravel – Alborado del Grazioso (no. 4 from Miroirs)

Franz Liszt – Valse de l’opera Faust de Gounod, S. 407

 

Alexander Yau – Full Biography

Alexander Yau, an eminent young Australian pianist, has developed himself into a

multifaceted musician incorporating his many musical talents as a chamber musician, conductor and composer. Pianist Balazs Szokolay describes “his artistic taste is good enough not to make any kind of “show” even in the most brilliant parts of great masterworks”.

 

His major concerto appearances as soloist include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s Concerto no.3, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Rachmaninoff’s Concerto no. 1 and a major tour with the SBS Youth Orchestra in Australia, with Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 2, various concertos performances with the Festival Orchestra Sinfonica “Duchi d’Acquaviva” and the Budweis Philharmonic Orchestra, finally the Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra with Brahms’ Piano Concerto no. 2. He has given solo and chamber music performances at the FOCUS Festival in Lincoln Centre NYC, Villa Reale and Teatre Commune di Atri in Italy,  Troldhaugen (Grieg’s home), Oslo Museum, Rexxam Hall in Takamatsu, as well as at the Australia International Canberra Music Festival, Polish Embassy of Australia, Phoenix Central Park and City Recital Hall in Sydney. In 2022 he released his first album in collaboration with clarinettist Deborah de Graff, featuring his own compositions and works by other Australian composers.

 

He has been awarded numerous prizes such as 6th Prize at the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, 3rd Prize at the Teresa Carreno International Masters Piano Competition and special prizes at the Australian International Chopin Piano Competition. He was the winner of the Sydney Kawai Piano Scholarship, top prize winner of the Australian National Piano Award and the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition.

 

He is currently an Associate Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a Casual Principal Pianist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and previously a music staff on contract at the Opera Australia. Previously he graduated his Masters of music from the renowned Juilliard School studying with prof. Matti Raekallio. He completed his Bachelor of Music piano performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, with first class Honours studying with Daniel Herscovitch and Elizabeth Powell.

 

Other than the piano, Alexander is an emerging conductor. He studied conducting with Christopher Seamens and Jeffery Milarsky at the Juilliard School. He served as an assistant conductor for the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour’s Production of Madama Butterfly in 2023. He has assisted conductors such as Michelango Mazza, Carlo Montanaro, Brian Castles-Onion and Tahu Matheson and in Europe worked with Maestro George Pehlivanian and Norbert Baxa, on Puccini’s La Boheme and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. This year he has been invited to return to Czech Republic to work on Dvorak’s Symphonies 7, 8 and 9 with Norbert Baxa. On the side he has founded the Medtner Chamber Orchestra with his colleague Ching Pong Ng, and conducted Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 1 and Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings in its inaugural concert.

 

Alexander is a highly sought after chamber musician, having regular recitals with violinist Professor Ole Böhn, collaborations with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia’s principal singers, Alma Moodie Quartet. He is a passionate music educator specializing as an instrumental performance coach in high demand and regularly gives masterclasses for younger piano students. He has served as a jury member for many Sydney Eisteddfod Piano Competitions, Sydney Catholic Schools Eisteddfods and Wollongong Eisteddfod.

 

Alexander also studied composition with Dr. Trevor Pearce and was awarded the James Easton Memorial Award for composition. His work “Grand Passacaglia for Clarinet and piano” is performed and recorded by his clarinet teacher Deborah de Graaff and himself, notably in the Australian Sax and Woodwinds conference.

​In recent years he turned to focus on music arranging. He gave the Australian premiere his newly written virtuosic transcription of “Dance of the Seven Veils from Richard’s Strauss’ Salome” for solo piano at the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition, as one of the 3 Australian competitors.