Letao Li Yuan
Grand Prize Winner, Hartford XIV Chopin International Piano Competition
Letao Li Yuan, age 9, is a rising fifth grader at the Special Music School (P.S. 859) in the City of New York and currently studies piano with Natela Mchedlishvili. Embarking on an unusual journey of music, Letao had played on a digital piano for two years since she was 4.5 years old, followed by one-year online piano lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic. In spring 2022, at the age of 8, Letao debuted her in-person piano competitions. She won first prizes in the biennial 2022 George Gershwin International Music Competition (age group under 12) and the 2022 Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition (age group under 10) respectively. In spring 2023, Letao won Grand Prize in the Hartford XIV Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut and first prize in the Franz Liszt Center International Virtual Piano Competition in La Nucía, Spain. In addition to piano, Letao is a passionate singer. She is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus; she sang and performed in the Metropolitan Opera production of La Bohème in spring 2023. In Letao’s free time, she enjoys math, coding, hiking, ice skating, and art making. One of her goals this summer is to hike with her family in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in Northern New York.