About

Collaborative pianist Jarod Yap always strives to portray music as a human experience.

With his playing described as sensitive and passionate, Jarod has collaborated with violinists David Chan and Stella Chen, cellists Amy Barston and Horatio Contreras, soprano Gemma Nha, and members of the Argus and Prometheus Quartets. He has performed at outstanding venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Alongside his duo partner soprano Margaret Tigue, they are semifinalists in the 2025 Young Concert Artists audition, 2025 SongStudio Artists, participants in the 2026 Cincinnati Song Initiative Fellowship of the Song, first place winners of the 2026 virtual songSLAM in New York City with composer Steven Ward, and finalists in the Federation of Art Song Fellowship Competition. In the fall of 2026, he looks forward to competing in the 15th International Art Song Competition Stuttgart at the International Hugo Wolf Akademie with Ms. Tigue and performing Faure Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor and Schubert Arpeggione Sonata with cellist Simon Housner, violinist Andrew Lin, and violist Bob Donowick at Friends of Vienna in Buffalo. Recent highlights include performances at The Park Avenue Armory in the North American debut of 11,000 Strings by Georg Friedrich Haas with the Klangforum Wien (September 2025), If Music be the Food with violist Jackson Hill in Hindemith’s Viola Sonata op. 11, no. 4 (November 2025), Music for Food (November 2024) with cellist Natasha Brofsky’s studio in Schubert’s Winterreise, as a soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra and Maestro Lou Vitello, and in Hilary Hahn’s collaboration with the Juilliard Dance Division of Oshima’s Memories with violinist Juliette Greer, choreographer Enzo Cardiff, and dancers Dasha Vishnyakova and Quinn Kuch. He teaches with Forte and has given masterclasses at the BRAVO International Chamber Music Workshop, Brooklyn Music School, and Upper East Side Music in addition to working as the staff pianist at Lyra Music Festival. He has degrees from Rice University (BM), The Juilliard School (MM Collaborative Piano), The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (LRCM, ARCT), and the University of Texas-Health Sciences Center (MPH) and will start his DMA at the University of Michigan in An Arbor with Dr. Ana Maria Otamendi and Dr. Elena Lacheva. Notable teachers include Mary Handley, Jeanne Kierman Fischer, Tom Jaber, Desmond Hoebig, Lydia Brown, Jonathan Feldman, and Cameron Stowe. Summer studies were at Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Source Song Festival, and the Collaborative Piano Institute. Important master classes were with JoAnn Falletta, Augustin Hadelich, Susan Graham, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Renee Fleming, and more. During his time as a staff pianist at The Juilliard School, he played for violinist Stella Chen, singer Betsy Bishop, violist Samuel Rhodes, violist Carol Rodland, violinist Aretta Zhulla, and the ACHT Viola Studio among others.

Early beginnings

Yap began his education at the Yamaha School of Music in Los Angeles, CA before earning his Licentiate’s and Associate’s Diplomas in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto with the guidance of Mary Handley in his hometown, Buffalo, NY.

Through accomplishments in the conservatory examinations, Yap performed at Carnegie Hall multiple times on both piano and violin. He also performed as a soloist with the Genesee Symphony Orchestra and Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra.

2021

Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance

Rice University and the Shepherd School of Music

2024

Master’s of Music in Collaborative Piano

The Juilliard School

He furthered his education at Rice University and the Shepherd School of Music with Professor Jeanne Kierman Fischer. Yap graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance with Distinction in Creative Works and Research and on the President’s Honor Roll. As part of the Rice-UT Health Public Health Scholars Program, he received a Master’s of Public Health in Health Promotion and Education with a certificate in Nutrition and Public Health the next year, May 2022. During his fifth year in Houston, Yap studied with Tom Jaber and Desmond Hoebig. In the summers, Yap attended the Music Academy of the West (2023) and Aspen Music Festival (2022) where he studied with Jonathan Feldman, Margaret McDonald, Natasha Kislenko, and Cameron Stowe respectively. He performed in masterclasses for Augustin Hadelich, JoAnn Falleta, Susan Graham, Angelo Xiang Yu, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Rita Sloan, Martin Katz, Joseph Conyers, Dominik Wagner, Fabio Bidini, Boris Berman, and Edgar Meyer among others.

Vision Possible Charity Concerts

He is the CEO of Vision Possible Charity Concerts, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that organizes charity concerts to enable classical musicians to collectively advocate for meaningful causes. He initiated interactive music outreach projects with the homeless youth in Houston, TX and curated music education programs to local elementary and middle school students.

At Rice, he received the Sviatoslav Richter Fund for Music Outreach on multiple occasions and was the Co-Coordinator of the Just For You! Music Program.

A keen teacher, Yap has taught students aged from 6 years old to retired physicians in Houston, TX, Buffalo, NY, and Dallas, TX. His students have performed at Carnegie Hall and attended Piano Texas Junior and Indiana University Summer Piano Academy. He taught previously as staff at the Annunciation Orthodox School. Yap strives to contribute to the classical music industry by establishing niche systems for classical musicians to gain performance opportunities for increased job stability.

Jarod is the son of Dr. Johnny and Christina Yap and the older brother of Constance Yap.