Yifei Xu

Yifei Xu is a pianist scheduled to perform with the Austin Symphony Orchestra in January 2027. The program includes Brahms's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. No further biographical details are available in our records.

This concert pairs two very different kinds of pianism. The Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel is a solo work built from a simple old tune that gets reshaped in ever more inventive ways before closing in a dense, contrapuntal fugue, where multiple melodic lines chase each other at once. The Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 is a compact, showy piece that moves through several connected sections without pause, including a famous moment where a triangle punctuates the piano's flourishes. Listeners can expect the soloist to navigate both the songful lyricism and the technical fireworks these works demand, though how this particular pianist shapes tempo and tone is not something we can describe without prior familiarity with their playing.