Sean Terada Yang

Sean Terada Yang is a half-Japanese, half-Chinese pianist born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. After receiving an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and piano from Vanderbilt University with Amy Dorfman, Sean earned two Master’s degrees at the University of Michigan in Piano Performance and Chamber Music with Logan Skelton and Amy I-Lin Cheng. This fall, Sean will begin his DMA studies at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker.

Sean has won top prizes at multiple international competitions; in the past two years, he has received top prizes at the National Federation of Music Clubs, Seattle International, Frances Walton, Memphis International, and Chautauqua SAI Concerto Competitions. He made his concerto debut at the age of 16 with Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3 with the Germantown Symphony Orchestra, and he has since performed with the Tennessee All-State, Nashville Symphony, Vanderbilt University, Chautauqua Symphony, and Chautauqua Music Festival Orchestras. He has been invited back to perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Chautauqua Music Festival Orchestra in the 2025-2026 season. He has also been invited to present concert and outreach tours along the West Coast by the Lady’s Music Club of Seattle.

In the past year, Sean has presented concerts in Boston, Detroit, Seattle, Fort Worth, Spain, Germany, Canada, and Japan.

As a chamber musician, Sean is a member of Trio Laval alongside Jordan Bartel and Sarina Zhang. They are supported by the Binkow Grant and have received prizes at the MTNA and Briggs Chamber Music Competitions in the past year. Upcoming performances include residences in Berlin, Texas Christian University’s Chamber Music Institute, and the Redfish Music Festival in Oregon.

Sean splits his time among Houston, Ann Arbor, and Boston as he also conducts research on human movement and biomechanics at the MIT.nano Immersion Lab under the leadership of Dr. Praneeth Namburi and Dr. Mi-Eun Kim. His past research has been published in touted journals such as the British Journal of Anaesthesia, International Journal of Critical Care, Military Medicine, and Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. During his free time, Sean loves to root for the Memphis Grizzlies, complete NYTimespuzzles, play tennis, and drink tea.