We recently had the chance to connect with Yan Shen and have shared our conversation below.
Yan, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. When was the last time you felt true joy?
I recently picked up Schubert Piano Sonata 960, when I practice it, I just can not stop. It’s his last piano sonata , as many other composers, he seemed like immerse himself into the thought of life and death. Beautifully profound music. I have goosebumps every time I m playing it.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a concert pianist with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. My career spans collaborative work, chamber music, and solo performance, as well as teaching through my Pilgrimage Piano studio.
What makes my performances compelling is my commitment to expressing the profound emotional depth I feel within the music—bringing the score to life through personal interpretation. As a teacher, I focus on discovering and nurturing each student’s unique musical voice, rather than shaping them to conform to a single model of playing.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
For a long time, I thought I could follow the path that society laid out for me — to have a stable job, a conventional life, and be like everyone else with a “normal” family and routine. I became a piano faculty member at a university in China, thinking that would fulfill both my professional and personal expectations.
But deep down, I knew something was missing. That life, though respectable, didn’t reflect who I truly was or what I deeply longed for. I realized I wasn’t meant to follow a traditional script — I was meant to create, to express, to live fully through music.
So I made the difficult decision to leave my position, leave my home country, and start over. Coming to the United States and embracing life as a concert pianist has been a return to my authentic self. For the first time, I feel truly free — not only in my career, but in my spirit. Music is no longer just my profession; it’s my voice, my calling, and my way of living truthfully.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
When I was in China, I came close to giving up my dream of being a concert pianist. I began to believe that my future would be limited to working as a collaborative pianist at a university — a stable path, but not the one my heart truly longed for.
People around me told me I couldn’t shine on stage because I didn’t have a degree from abroad. Over time, those voices became internal doubts, and I started questioning my own talent and worth as an artist.
It wasn’t until I came to the United States that everything began to shift. Being in a new environment, surrounded by possibility, I slowly began to rediscover my confidence, my voice, and the freedom to pursue the life I was meant to live as a concert pianist.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Actually yes, I don’t really hide myself from people. Because I don’t need to protect my real self. I m happy to show people how I really are.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that after I’m gone, people will remember me as someone who helped them — through my music, through my teaching, and through simply being present. I want them to feel that I inspired something in them: a sense of possibility, beauty, or courage. I didn’t just want to play the piano — I wanted to move hearts, to make people feel more alive, more connected, more human. If my music or my words ever gave someone comfort, hope, or clarity, then I lived the life I was meant to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yanshen-piano.com
- Instagram: yanshen_piano
- Facebook: Yan Shen
- Youtube: Yan Shen-Pianist
Image Credits
Dada Wang
