Born in Beijing in 1986, the Chinese pianist Jingge Yan went along an unusual path of piano studying. With his burning desire for knowledge and tremendous passion of music, he rejected the offer of the central conservatory of music in China and went to general high school for well-balanced education. However, the music has never changed its role as the most serious mission for him, and has been the beacon light for him on the long journey of exploring the real meaning of art and life. While holding a outstanding records in school, Jingge Yan also made remarkable success in music. And as an “Amateur” piano student, he defeated the students from conservatories and gained laurels in many major piano competitions in his home country China, including first prizes at the Hope Cup International Piano Competition for young artists and the Gulangyu International Piano Competition. In addition to piano playing, Jingge Yan also actively writes articles for the music and culture editorial departments of a number of magazines and newspapers as a young music reviewer.

The strong desire for knowledge promoted Jingge Yan, after graduated from high school, to discover more untouched territory for him and to meet the challenges of the real world. He was therefore successfully admitted by Communication University of China to study “Sound Engineering” as a freshman. And as his horizon gradually broadened and his activeness increased in college, he felt strongly that he could no longer be limited within China, and therefore seek the place where he could make his dream of “living with music” come true. In the meantime, the role of piano became more and more important and special to him, as he realized that the most simple and direct way to touch a heart could only be found by touching the keyboard.

With the mind made up, Jingge Yan started his musical journey to the western world in 2007. He was admitted by Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio (USA) and studied there piano with Peter Takacs and organ with James David Christie. During his study at Oberlin Conservatory, Jingge won “John Elvin” Prize for the most talented junior student. And in 2010, he graduated with an election as a member of “Pi Kappa Lambda” Society for his outstanding scores at graduation.

After USA, Jingge was attracted by the fascinating music environment in Europe and is now pursue his master's degree at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. It was also firstly in Europe that his rapidly growing maturity in piano interpretation was fully recognized and greatly appreciated. As greatest achievement so far, he was awarded the first prize at the 4th International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn (December 2011). The chairman of the jury, Prof. Pavel Giliov, praised his interpretations: “Jingge Yan inspired not only the public, but the jury as well. (…). Like almost no other, the young Chinese pianist Jingge Yan captures the deeper meaning of Beethoven’s complex music and expresses it through his mature playing. His accuracy and simultaneous creativity while interpreting for example the “Diabelli-Variationen” or the “Bagatellen”, is greatly fascinating me. He more than meets the demands of Beethoven’s music (…).

Engagements in Asia, Europe and America soon followed. In 2013, his CD with late works of Beethoven (Diabelli-Variationen, 6 Bagatellen) was issued and highly acclaimed by the critics and press. In 2015, Jingge Yan was entitled “Beethoven Ambassador” by Beethoven Haus Society in Bonn. As the first Chinese Pianist to be given this honor, Jingge makes continuous effort in bringing Beethoven’s music and spirit from Bonn to China and the world. Jingge Yan was recently also awarded the title of “Grotrian-Steinweg Artist” and made a concert tour with 12 concerts in 12 dominant cities in China.

 From 2016 to 2017, Jingge Yan recorded the complete 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven in Beethoven-Haus Bonn. The first release of the recordings comes out in Europe in May 2018. Jingge Yan became thus the first Chinese young pianist to make complete recording of the 32 Beethoven sonatas.

旅欧中国青年钢琴家闫竞舸1986年出生于一个平凡的北京家庭，父亲对于音乐和艺术的执着热爱，与特殊年代无法实现的音乐梦想，促使他将幼小的闫竞舸送上音乐之路。在百折不挠的努力和坚持不懈的追求中，闫竞舸从小就获得了值得引以为傲的成绩。

在中国学习钢琴的15年里，闫竞舸师从刘峥，凌远两位知名教授，接受了悉心而系统的培育，为他的钢琴演奏道路奠定了坚实的基础。值得一提的是，在钢琴学习的同时，闫竞舸还保持了从小学到高中毕业优异的学习成绩。正是看到了闫竞舸身上与众不同的优势，在小学毕业选择中学的关键时刻，他的老师凌远教授别出心裁地鼓励闫竞舸放弃在中央音乐学院学习的机会，选择一所优质的普通中学，在钢琴学习的同时，接受更为重要的全面而健康的中学教育。正是这样一个独特的契机与正确的决定，加之他本人日后更加持之以恒的努力，造就了如今闫竞舸不同寻常的演奏风格和对音乐深刻而有内涵的个性诠释。

在中国的学习期间，闫竞舸频繁地在中国各大钢琴比赛中夺魁。

2006年，闫竞舸获得美国奥柏林音乐学院全额奖学金，开始了留学美国的钢琴学习。在美国跟随美籍罗马尼亚钢琴大师彼得·塔卡仕（Peter Takacs）教授学习的四年里，闫竞舸的演奏水平突飞猛进，取得了优异的成绩。大学学习期间，闫竞舸受益于彼得·塔卡仕教授在贝多芬音乐诠释方面的独特见解与丰硕成果，渐渐对德奥古典音乐大师们的作品产生浓厚的兴趣，并且努力探寻属于自己的成熟的个人演奏风格。2009年，他凭借对艰深的贝多芬钢琴奏鸣曲第29号“Hammerklavier”精彩的演绎，获得奥柏林大学为最优秀的大三学生设立的“John Elvin”演奏奖。大学毕业时，闫竞舸以优异的成绩被评选为美国“Pi Kappa Lambda”学会荣誉会员。

2010年，闫竞舸从美国来到欧洲，在奥地利萨尔兹堡音乐与艺术大学跟随钢琴演奏大师与教育家帕威尔·格里洛夫（Pavel Gililov）继续深造。2011年底，闫竞舸以精湛的钢琴演奏技巧和对贝多芬音乐的完美诠释在德国波恩贝多芬国际钢琴比赛摘得桂冠，同时他还赢得了室内乐重奏特别奖项。评委团一致赞叹闫竞舸的演奏“不仅很好地感染了听众,也感染了整个评委团。他对原作品的阐释和比赛中的表现都展现了他极高的音乐天赋”。他的教授格里洛夫先生在接受采访时更是表示：“闫竞舸将他的内心与贝多芬音乐深刻而复杂的情感连结在一起，用罕有的成熟与沉稳，将贝多芬音乐的哲理与美用他的娴熟钢琴演奏带给听众。”

赛后，作为贝多芬的故乡,德国波恩因此更成为闫竞舸经常造访演出的城市，他与波恩交响乐团多次合作演奏的贝多芬第五交响曲“皇帝”，并在波恩各大音乐厅经常性举办个人独奏音乐会。2014年11月，闫竞舸在波恩的独奏音乐会后，被德国General-Anzeiger报纸评为“兼具诗意与激情的年轻艺术家，以充满热忱的成熟诠释，深深地抓住了贝多芬音乐的奥妙与精髓”。

近年来，闫竞舸活跃于世界各国的音乐舞台上，并且与世界一流的乐团和指挥合作，博得各大主流媒体的关注与称赞。2013年，他与瑞士指挥大师卡斯帕·钦德Kaspar Zehnder合作，携手斯洛伐克国家爱乐乐团，将鲜为人知的贝多芬亲手为钢琴而改编的著名的贝多芬D大调小提琴协奏曲，历史上首次带给斯洛伐克的听众，并以深邃成熟的演奏风格博得观众和媒体的一致赞赏与褒奖。同年，他还与环球唱片公司合作发行了贝多芬晚期作品CD，当中他对于贝多芬晚年的巨作“迪亚贝利变奏曲”的完美演绎，博得了业内专家与媒体的一致好评，被称为是“让人为之一振的演奏”和“惊人的年轻钢琴家”。

在钢琴演奏以外，闫竞舸还热衷于音乐学术研究。中学时期便开始为音乐杂志和报纸撰写文章的他，除了亲自编写个人专辑的介绍小册以外，还经常将贝多芬和古典音乐、以及钢琴演奏的方方面面以生动透彻的讲座音乐会形式，介绍给世界各地的听众，获得了广泛的欢迎与赞誉。

对于音乐，闫竞舸始终不断地追求探寻作曲家赋予音符的丰富而深邃的人生哲理，并通过真诚严谨的钢琴演奏，将音乐蕴含的生活的真谛与感悟一点一滴地通过琴声传递传达给听众，用音乐与听众进行心与心的交流，是他坚持不懈的追求与梦想。2015年4月，闫竞舸被德国波恩市贝多芬故居及贝多芬协会授予“贝多芬大使”称号，成为被授予该称号的首位中国钢琴家, 并于同年10月作为“贝多芬大使”到中国的北京、上海、广州、青岛、呼和浩特等14个大型城市进行了“贝多芬专场巡演”，此次巡演受到了媒体和专业人士的极大关注，取得了巨大的成功和空前的反响。作为“大使”，闫竞舸不仅把原汁原味的德国音乐带回中国展现给观众，他致力于用贝多芬音乐和贝多芬精神连结中德两国，为中德文化与音乐交流不断做出贡献。

2016年起，闫竞舸与德国电信、德国波恩贝多芬故居、德国戈特里安钢琴联手，开始了浩大的三十二首贝多芬奏鸣曲全集的系列唱片录制工作，首套唱片专辑已经于2018年5月在欧洲问世出版，由此闫竞舸也成为世界上首位完整录制全部贝多芬钢琴作品的华人钢琴家。