Chinese-American pianist Adria Ye has been driven from a young age by a hopeless fascination with music, old and new. Described by David Finckel as having a “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct,” she has performed as soloist and chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States. She has been featured in radio broadcasts of “Performance Today” with Fred Child, and National Public Radio’s “From the Top” with Christopher O’Riley. Most recently, she was the winner of the 2022 Music Academy of the West Solo Piano Competition.

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        Growing up with the sound of her brother practicing the piano, Adria began her own studies at age four and soon discovered an innate love for music and the keyboard. At age eleven, she moved across the country from her home in Portland, Oregon to study at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division in New York City. Outside of her solo repertoire, Adria is an avid chamber musician with a wide-ranging repertoire, and spent three years in Wu Han and David Finckel’s intensive chamber music studio at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

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        When she was seventeen, Adria developed playing injuries in both arms that forced her away from performing and serious practice for nearly two years. Finding life away from the piano abjectly miserable, she completely relearned and rebuilt her technique in order to be able to return to the instrument. The absence of music in her life gave her a much greater understanding of the joy that music can bring—a lesson which has reinforced her desire to share that joy with others.

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        Adria has in recent years embarked on various adventurous projects with fellow pianist Huan Li, including performances of Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen and George Crumb’s Makrokosmos III: Music for a Summer Evening with percussionists Jonathan Haas and Alana Wiesing, as well as Steve Reich’s Six Pianos, with pianists Umi Garrett, Tengku Irfan, Theo Rockas, and Derek Wang. Adria has also performed Thomas Adès’s Catch with AXIOM and Jeffrey Milarsky, and premiered Jack Frerer’s Last In, First Out with clarinetist Ning Zhang and violinist KJ McDonald.

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       Adria earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at Juilliard with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin, and currently studies with Wha-Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory.