Yuchun Cheng

Rainer Moog, former Principal Viola of Berliner Philharmoniker once describe Yuchun as:” One possess perfect pitch and who is well versed in musical playing skills. Bright future lies before her”. I was born in Tainan, Taiwan in December 1997. I started learning violin and piano at the age of five. In 2021 I graduated from the University Department of The Juilliard School with a major in viola. I am currently studying at the Longy School of Music of Bard College for the Masters in Music Education and Second Studies for Violin. In 2013, I went to the United States to enter the Juilliard School Pre-College. And in 2016 I won the Juilliard Pre-College Student Commencement Award. During my stay in Taiwan, I have held countless personal charity fundraising recitals, for example, for cerebral palsy, mentally handicapped children, delivering meals to remote elderly people living alone… However, in 2016 and 2017, I did what I thought was the most meaningful thing. I used the summer vacation to voluntarily go to Mingtan Junior High School in Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. I went to teach students how to play the violin and shared my Knowledge and some experience learned in the United States. Mingtan Junior High is a school located in a remote village and is about to be abolished by the government. They do not have any violin equipment, nor any music teachers. There are only 28 students in this school. Fortunately, I found a musical instrument manufacturer willing to provide funding so that students have the opportunity to have access to the violin and learn to play it. Of course, we also performed a pop-up show in Sun Moon Lake. I have won first prizes in national music competitions in Taiwan. I have participated in many international music competitions in the United States. I have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York many times. In 2017, I won the International Pepsi Jingtao Chamber Music Award. In 2020, I won the first prize in the youth category and the best outstanding performance award in the London International Rising Stars Music Competition. In 2021, I won the Platinum Medalist in the Quebec Music Competition. In 2022, I won the second prize in Medici International music competition. In 2011, I officially participated in the Internationale Sommerakademie Schloss Heiligenberg and participated in the festival as the youngest. In 2012, I participated in the South Korean Great Mountains Music Festival School (GMMFS) and was selected as a rising star and performed at the Alpensia Concert Hall. In 2013, I participated in the Sejong Internation Music Festival String Quartet and performed at the Seoul Arts Center. In 2015 and 2016, I participated in the NobuKo Imai master class in Tokyo and performed in Ishibashi Momorial Hall, Ueno Gakuen. In 2017, I participated in the Tokyo Viola Space. In 2020, I participated in the Taipei International Master Star Music Festival. In 2020, I studied violin at the Euro Arts Academy. I have been influenced by Kenji Tomonaga, Rainer Moog, Hideko Kobayashi, Hsin Yun Huang, Heidi Castleman, Toby Appel, Nobuko Imai, Maimo Parisss, Matthew Daline, Isaac Malkin, Misha Amory, Steven Tenenbom, Paul Neubauer, Lewis Kapian, Scott lee, Yiwen Jiang, Paula Majerfield , Mark Lakirovich, Csaba Erdelyi

You can find Yuchun’s 2023 Classical Music Competition viola performance here.