Imagery inspires artistry of pianist Yang

Pianist Joyce Yang plays at the Orvis Auditorium at the University of Hawaii-Manoa tonight. --Courtesy Oh Seok Hoon

Joyce Yang, an island favorite, is back for solo and chamber music concerts in Honolulu to close out a year that has featured many great piano performances.

Her two concerts here last year featured beautiful, textured artistry and emotional depth as well as a charming stage presence. Since then she has produced a CD, “Collage,” a collection of classic and contemporary works that “don’t seem to go together on paper but, heard back to back, give life to each other,” Yang said.

The CD, called “a brave and challenging debut” by the Independent, was a collaboration with artist Joan Snyder as an expression of what Yang calls “synesthesia” — her tendency to visualize music.

Yang was suffering from a severe case of tonsillitis, so she answered questions via email, excerpted here:

Star-Advertiser: You enjoy chatting about your program with the audience. It helps us listeners, but how about you as a performer?

Yang: I like to think that the audience comes to see my recitals to hear the magnificent composition and to hear what I have to say about them. I think the second part mainly comes through my actual performance — but I do think it helps to know my thoughts. I try to stay away from a music history lesson — speaking only about the way I see and hear the piece — so that we are instantly on the same page. Speaking in front of a crowd gives me the illusion that I am playing for my friends in my living room.

Q: Any important “firsts” (new venue, new work) this year?

A: I feel like my life is full of “firsts.” Even if I return to a familiar venue — something always seems new. However, I must say the stage is a familiar place no matter where I am — a place where all my senses come alive and I face myself and all my intuition again. I am always amazed at how my senses start to interact and respond spontaneously to each other. I almost always end up doing something I didn’t expect to do (musically speaking).

Q: You’re doing solo and chamber music concerts here on Oahu. For the solo concert, you’re going from Scarlatti, a harpsichord composer, to Chopin, the ultimate piano composer, to a rather dissonant Bartok. Your chamber music concert shows similar contrasts. How did these programs came together?

A: The chamber music programs were decided amongst my chamber partners. The Schumann quintet has a place in the center of my heart — whereas the Poulenc is brand new to me. I am excited to be playing these pieces with Chamber Music Hawaii.

As for the solo repertoire — the program is truly all over the place. We are introduced to incredibly different sets of pieces with vivid colors and raw texture.

I wanted to treat the four Scarlatti sonatas as a four-movement sonata to start things off. They are charming, elegant and coquettish. They are compact yet asymmetrical, which I feel is almost the exact opposite of the Chopin Nocturnes — the ultimate nostalgic melody flooding out of a timeless background.

The Bartok combines the two opposite worlds and everywhere in between. There are drums and pipes, strange bug noises, fireflies lighting up the night and a fierce chase between forest creatures.