By: Stephanie Monroe
New York, October 2025 — Pianist Dr. Yuanyuan Liu, Doctor of Musical Arts from The Hartt School, University of Hartford, has built a career connecting concert performance, teaching, and community service, using music as a bridge between people and cultures across the Pacific.
On October 5, Dr. Liu was invited to serve as a jury member for the Concert Star International Classical Music Competition and to deliver the closing performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Her interpretation of Brahms’s Intermezzo in A Major, Op.118 No.2 was described by audience members as “poetic and deeply moving,”reflecting her signature blend of lyricism and intellectual clarity.
The following evening, she appeared at Columbia University for an open-mic and artist lecture event, where she delivered her talk “The Inner Voice of the Pianist: Balancing Technique, Poetics, and Purpose.” In her lecture, Dr. Liu encouraged young musicians to find authenticity in their playing and to view music as a form of communication rather than display.
“Every performance is a conversation between the composer, the performer, and the listener,” she said. “When music is honest, it speaks beyond language or culture.”
Beyond her achievements on the concert stage, Dr. Liu has gained wide recognition for her efforts to bring classical music to underserved audiences. She is the founder of the ‘Music Speaks’ initiative, a community outreach series that offers free performances in retirement homes, hospitals, hospice centers, and local community venues across New York and Connecticut.
What began as a small local effort has grown into a network of professional musicians and students who volunteer their time to share live music with people who rarely have the opportunity to attend concerts. Dr. Liu describes these performances as “intimate dialogues” rather than formal recitals. Listeners sometimes sing along, share memories, or simply listen in silence. Such moments are small yet powerful, reaffirming the human connection at the heart of music.
“I’ve learned that music can bring comfort even when words cannot,” Dr. Liu said. “Each outreach concert reminds me why I chose this path: to enrich people’s lives with musical beauty.“
The Music Speaks program has also become a bridge between professional artists and young students. Dr. Liu often invites her students from The Hartt School’s Community Division to participate, helping them understand the social and emotional impact of their art. Her next outreach concert will take place on October 12 at The Court of Saint James in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Dr. Liu’s artistic journey began at Wuhan Conservatory of Music, where she completed her early and undergraduate studies before moving to the United States. She later earned both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from The Hartt School, and now serves on the school’s faculty, mentoring young pianists and organizing cultural exchange programs between Chinese and American institutions.
In recent years, she has been increasingly active in promoting cross-cultural dialogue through performance and education. She frequently collaborates with artists from both countries and helps facilitate academic visits and masterclasses by American professors in China.
Dr. Liu’s international outreach includes performances and lectures in China, where she fosters cultural exchange through music. Her efforts highlight how music can transcend cultural divides, connecting global communities and creating shared understanding.
Balancing concert engagements, teaching, and outreach, Dr. Liu represents a new generation of internationally minded artists who see music not only as a personal career but as a greater good that communicates, connects and inspires.
“Whether in a concert hall or a nursing home,” she said, “music can build bridges across generations, across communities, and across borders.”
