Josephine Yang has performed internationally as a soloist and collaborator on piano and violin. She received the Master of Music degree in piano performance under the direction of world-renowned concert pianist Daniel Pollack at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and her Bachelor’s in piano performance with her longtime mentor Dr. Baruch Meir at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.
Comfortable in diverse settings, her performance scope ranges from the traditional concert hall to rock concerts and festivals. Josephine performed as the solo pianist with the symphonic rock band Evanescence on their Synthesis orchestra tour, and has also performed on tour with Il Divo. She is on the board of 5th Wave Collective, a Chicago-based group that champions works by women and non-binary composers throughout history to today, and has performed with the group since its first season. Her performances with 5th Wave have included a collaboration with the four-time Grammy Award-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird as part of their Chicago Artists Workshop series, in which she performed Margaret Bonds’ “Troubled Water” along with other collaborative pieces with 5th Wave members. She has performed at several classical music festivals including Pianofest in the Hamptons and MusicFest Perugia and also performed Rachmaninoff’s notorious Piano Concerto No. 3 on tour with multiple orchestras.
Josephine is also a passionate teacher with a beloved studio. Teaching is an essential expression of her personality and musicianship; she teaches all ages and levels and deeply respects every student, taking their goals, interests, and tastes into account. Though she has the tools and connections to help her students reach high professional goals, her greatest aim is to instill a love for music and awareness of the human connection that music brings.
A recipient of the National Merit Scholarship, Josephine attained the distinct honor of valedictorian of her high school class. She also performs on and teaches violin and has collaborated with many musicians in orchestras and chamber groups in the United States.
Josephine resides in New York with her husband, Broadway actor and singer Koray Tarhan, their toddler Callum, and their dog Koufax. Her Instagram is: @yangandfree
One summer when I was younger I was fortunate enough to hear Josephine Yang practice Beethoven’s Sonata “Pastoral” Op. 28 No. 15 in a cozy setting (among other pieces like one Rachmaninoff Etude and “Gargoyles” by Lowell Liebermann). And appropriately, played on a beautiful Bosendorfer grand that she seemed glad to let me use before her. To this day, I know I compare any thoughtful performance to level of meaning I felt from her performance of that Sonata.
Thank you so much for this note. I so deeply appreciate your words more than you know! All the love, Josephine