April 2010 Performance:
"In Schumann's E-flat Piano Quintet, pianist Joyce Yang joined the ensemble, relishing the imperial swagger in the composer's bolder writing but proving just as memorable in her delicate treatment of the more inwardly focused passages. Yang's skill at melding her keyboard tone with the strings suggested musical maturity well beyond her 23 years of age. Together these five players gave luminous voice to Schumann's magical slow movement, and finished the piece with an infectious exuberance."

March 2010 Performance:
"In between these works, de Waart conducted Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Joyce Yang, Silver Medalist of the 12th Van Cliburn International Competition, as the soloist...Yang sounded more distanced from the music, as if establishing a rapport with its struggle rather than engaging in it. Showing little interest in dynamic or interpretive variation, she played with a polished, pearly evenness that was remarkable for its ease up and down the keyboard. Her most introspective moments came in the cadenzas and at the start of the slow middle movement."

March 2010 Performance:
"After a brief pause during which the piano was rolled out and the orchestra downsized, de Waart appeared back on stage with the soloist, the 24-year-old Korean pianist and 2005 Van Cliburn Silver Medal Winner, Joyce Yang. Together they performed a very Mozartian rendition of the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto, which is not the warhorse suggested by the Fourth Piano Concerto and realized in the Fifth, but rather Beethoven’s transition concerto between those of Mozart and his last two on which he put his own distinctive stamp. Yang’s playing was exceptional for its clarity and accuracy. She effortlessly caressed each note out of the keyboard in a somewhat restrained but beautiful performance. And de Waart provided the perfect accompaniment, never allowing the orchestra to overshadow Yang, but truly accompanying the piano part. In fact, the overall restrained performance was indicated by de Waart’s decision not to use a baton in the first two movements — though he nevertheless managed to deftly single out individual instruments or sections. At the conclusion, the audience rose to its feet in appreciation of the two heroes, de Waart and Yang."

March 2010 Performance:
"Yang’s vehicle was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor and she served notice that she’s a lot more than just another competition winner...From the beginning, she displayed plenty of power — her opening chords and the first-movement cadenza were full of bravura — but was able to carry that power with elegance in the many graceful, lyrical moments, a feat that many young pianists cannot manage. She was particularly impressive in the concluding third movement, which became a playful romp... She is definitely a young pianist to keep your ear (and eye) on."

March 4, 2010 Performance:
"To set the hook, the pianist was Joyce Yang, whose performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 here two years ago brought down the normally restrained house. Could she do it again with Rachmaninoff?

Answer: without even breathing hard. Yang is a powerful player, with the accuracy of a surgeon and the heart of an artist. Thursday night, in the first of a weekend series, she delivered a passionate reading of the Rhapsody without falling overboard during the 18th variation, its familiar romantic theme. Her timing is adroit and she stayed with it.

The Rhapsody is a virtuoso work for the entire orchestra, with broad tempo changes, dynamic range and fits of syncopation, particularly in the ninth variation. Music Director Jorge Mester welded the two forces nearly flawlessly. This performance alone was worth the admission."

February 5, 2010 Performance:
"The performance was astonishing from beginning to end... Yang has all the technique to make these [Scarlatti Sonatas] look easy, but her ability to articulate the melody notes and distinguish them from the accompanying notes showed her command of the style period. In addition, she carried the rhythm with a brilliant sense of phrase and time. She found the heart of the music and let it speak."

January 2010 Performance:
"Responding to the prodigious energy of four young, virtuosic pianists, the Charleston Concert Association crowd at Gaillard Auditorium on Thursday night exploded with wild applause and a standing ovation. Four medalists in recent Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions, awarded quadrennially, played two pianos, four hands and two pianos, eight hands, creating the lush, joyous sounds of a full orchestra in music primarily from the best-loved Romantic composers."

January 15, 2010 Performance:
"The thunderous applause swallowed Tucson Music Hall....Those of us who saw her with the TSO in 2005, on the heels of her silver medal win in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, expected such greatness from Yang... But even we were surprised by what a fine musician the 23-year-old South Korean native has blossomed into since she played in Tucson. Her years traveling the world, appearing in hallowed halls and on storied stages with some of the world's finest orchestras have given her a confidence and prowess far beyond her years."