Berlin-based cellist Yibai Chen and pianist Boyang Shi will present a cello and piano recital featuring works by Kodály, Bartók, Dvořák, and Grieg. The program brings together four works exploring different musical styles, from Hungarian-inspired compositions to Romantic-era repertoire.

About the Performance

This concert features a program of cello and piano works by Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók, Antonín Dvořák, and Edvard Grieg.

The program opens with Kodály’s Sonatina for Cello and Piano, followed by Bartók’s Rhapsody No.1 for Cello and Piano, Sz. 88. The concert continues with Dvořák’s Sonatina in G Major for Violin and Piano, Op.100 arranged for cello and piano, before the intermission. The second half features Grieg’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in A minor, Op.36.

Performers

Yibai Chen — Cello

Yibai Chen is a Berlin-based cellist and prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition 2022. He was named a Classic FM Rising Star and selected as a BBC New Generation Artist in 2026.

He has performed with orchestras including the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and Janáček Philharmonic. He has also appeared at festivals including the Chopin and His Europe Festival, George Enescu Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Chen performs on a Giuseppe Guadagnini cello from around 1780, loaned by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Hamburg.

Boyang Shi — Piano

Boyang Shi is a pianist based in Germany, associate professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and a member of the Conservatory’s Innovation Team for Orchestral and Chamber Music Performance and Talent Development.

She has performed at venues including Salle Cortot in Paris, Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Guangzhou Opera House, and Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore. She has also appeared at international festivals including the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Bad Kissinger Sommer, and Bad Sobernheim Festival.

Shi won First Prize at the 14th International Chopin Competition in Hanover and was the only Asian pianist to reach the final round.

Event Program

• Zoltán Kodály
  Sonatina for Cello and Piano
• Béla Bartók
  Rhapsody No.1 for Cello and Piano, Sz. 88
• Antonín Dvořák
  Sonatina in G Major for Violin and Piano, Op.100
  (arr. for Cello and Piano)

Intermission

• Edvard Grieg
  Sonata for Cello and Piano in A minor, Op.36

Program subject to change.

Why Go

This recital brings together two musicians with international performance experience for a program spanning Hungarian, Czech, and Norwegian composers. It offers a chance to hear cello and piano works performed by Yibai Chen and Boyang Shi, who have collaborated previously as a duo on international performances of Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano.