Lunchtime Recital - Mark Zang (piano) , Yuno Akiyama (violin)

Programme:

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Suite from "Much ado about Nothing" op. 11

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major op. 47 "Kreutzer"

In association with the Guildhall School of Music and Dramaa

Free Entry. No ticket required. Retiring collection - suggestion £5

https://www.stpancraschurch.org/donations

Biographies:

Mark Zang began his musical journey studying the piano from roughly four years of age. He won a scholarship to the Purcell School of Music, where he studied for eight years, performing at venues such as Milton Court and Wigmore Hall. After Purcell, he became an organ scholar at Emmanuel College, where he studied Music as an undergraduate, followed by a Master’s degree in Composition; some highlights from this include a setting of tongue twisters, spam emails, and other nonsense texts, and a neo-Romantic piano concerto whose thematic material was based on internet memes.

During his studies at Cambridge, Mark performed prolifically as both soloist and accompanist, appearing in several recitals per term; he directed Emmanuel College Choir’s summer tour in 2022, and was the winner of the University’s concerto competition, performing Britten’s Piano Concerto in 2023. Then, after working for two years—one as an organist, and one at a school—Mark returned to studies, beginning a Master’s in Piano Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama last September. There, he won the St James Chamber Prize with Theo; he was highly commended as accompanist in the English Song Prize; and he will perform in the final of the Ivan Sutton Chamber Prize. He recently conducted Guildhall’s production of the Broadway musical Little Women, to much success. Although Mark’s non-musical interests are rather slim, he enjoys a variety of niche hobbies, ranging from chess and cryptic crosswords, to finding data entry ‘weirdly therapeutic’ and eating cereal at odd times of day.

Outside of the piano, Mark continues to explore other areas of music-making: he is currently the holder of the Mary and Bryn Walters Organ Scholarship at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will be Organ Scholar at Royal Hospital Chelsea next academic year. He is a trained choral singer, having been a member of the Genesis Sixteen development programme; he has sung on BBC Radio 3 on several occasions, and is currently an Emerging Artist with St Martin’s Voices, with whom he performs regularly.

Yuno Akiyama, a Japanese violinist, is an artist active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.

After graduating with a scholarship from Tokyo College of Music, she moved to the UK for further studies. Since 2024, she has been enrolled in the Master’s program at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, supported by a grant that includes a scholarship from the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, she was sent to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna on a fully-funded scholarship from the Tokyo International Arts Association.

In competitions, she has won numerous awards, including 1st Prize at the 17th Prof. Dichler International Competition in Vienna, 2nd Prize and Chairman's Award at the 8th Miotsukushi Music Festival Osaka Classic Competition, and 5th Prize at the 24th Japan Classical Music Competition. She has also been selected as a finalist in the Osaka International Music Competition, the Japan Player's Competition, and the Cecilia International Music Competition.

As an orchestral player, while a student at Tokyo College of Music, she was selected and recommended to participate with the Bayerisches Landesjugendorchester (Bavarian State Youth Orchestra) between 2019 and 2023. She gained international stage experience by being invited multiple times to music festivals and international festivals across Europe, including in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Currently, while continuing her studies in London, she continues to perform actively in the UK, Japan, and elsewhere.