“Certain musical phrases can transport you through time, space and experience. I feel compelled to share this incredible force with others and communicate in ways words cannot,” she said. 

Music from the Romantic period, which she will perform at her upcoming concert at Four Winds, defines vulnerable emotions, she said. 

“Heart triumphs the head in most cases. It allows me to explore all shades of emotion - and find joy in all degrees of human conditions,” Yang said. 

She was four years old when she first saw a white upright piano and recalls being mesmerised when it was rolled into her living room, even more so when when her aunt - also her first piano teacher - opened the lid and music came out of the black and white keys.

“It was a mystical object in my mind,” she said. 

Yang started to learn to play the piano and violin simultaneously, but always preferred the piano.

“It was my favourite toy and it was something I could always return to, like a constant in my life,” she said.

“The instrument represented a lot for me as a child. The music came later.

“I think I started to think about the music making at the age of nine. I remember playing Beethoven’s second piano concerto in my practice room and I suddenly heard the sound that came out of the piano. I finally realized my fingertips were making music - until that point, I was just playing without listening. From that point on, I was hooked on trying to make my hands create the sound that I want.” 

At her concert at Four Winds, she will perform works by Schumann, Chopin, Debussy and Grieg.

“This is a colourful program with a lot of contrasts,” she said.

“In the Grieg, we focus on the lyricism of the piano, whereas in Debussy, we celebrate the colourful layers/waves of sounds, inspired by the Javanese gamelan. In Grand Polonaise, Chopin takes the piano to its new virtuosic height and Schumann explores all shades of his psyche through quirky and playful movements of Carnaval.”

Joyce Yang will perform on Saturday, July 7 from 1pm at Four Winds’ Windsong Pavilion at Barragga Bay. Tickets are $80, under 16s are free.