A LOT has happened since Yuanfan Yang performed a recital at Holy Trinity Church when he was just 10.

The Royal Academy of Music student has played at eminent music societies, festivals and events, won numerous awards, made it to the grand final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and once had his name mentioned in the same breath as the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon composer.

But despite being in demand all over the world, the 21-year-old is delighted to be returning to Warrington for the 400th recital organised by WACIDOM (Warrington Arts Council Initiative for the Development of Music).

The charity has been hosting free lunchtime recitals at the Market Gate church for 18 years.

Yuanfan said: "It will be very interesting to return there and just see what it’s like because as a 10-year-old everything seems so big and larger than life.

"To have the chance to play a full-length recital and to get that experience really is invaluable when you’re searching for your own voice in music.

"Eighteen years of recitals is a real tradition and to have something like that for emerging musicians is simply amazing. I hope it continues."

Yuanfan was six when he tried a piano for the first time at his friend's house for a birthday party.

The former Chetham's School of Music pupil added: "I became very curious about this monumental instrument. I realised I could hear the differences between each note and could make out nursery tunes I knew."

Yuanfan passed Grade 5 with distinction a year later, and passed Grade 8 with distinction when he was eight.

He said: "I'm supposed to be one of the youngest to get a Grade 8. I couldn't imagine that. It felt crazy to me."

Yuanfan also started to compose his own music when he was eight.

He added: "I’ve always liked to improvise and make up my own music on the spot. It grew from there and when I was eight I was persuaded by teachers, family and friends to start writing it down.

"That started to gradually develop. I started to write more and more and now I take playing the piano and composition equally seriously. I think they are mutually beneficial skills to have.

"It wasn’t because my parents and teachers were pushing me. I was the one who wanted to go forward and keep challenging myself."

Yuanfan kept meeting those challenges head on including receiving a diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, aged 10.

But bizarrely one of the first to broadcast his music was the pre-school channel CBeebies.

Yuanfan said: "It was called Take A Bow and what they did was get people with dancing or musical talents around the country and presented a mini film about them.

"I played one of my own pieces that I wrote when I was really young called Fantasy in G. It was great. We went to the Eureka museum in Halifax and they made it look like I conjured up the piano by magic."

The young musician has had many highlights since then.

He added: "One of the big profile things I did was when I was one of the three grand finalists of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition where I played a full-length piano concerto with a professional symphony orchestra live on BBC Two to millions of people.

"That was a very rewarding and interesting experience. I’ll never forget that.

"I also wrote a 30-minute piano concerto for solo piano and symphony orchestra when I was 17 and for that I was very fortunate to be awarded a grant in China.

"Several hundred Chinese composers and composers of Chinese descent applied for this including Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun who did the score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It was honour to be included in such company.

"Now I get to play several concerts with an orchestra around China and we’ve got another coming up in Beijing. It’s very exciting getting to play your own music on stage for an orchestra.

"Playing the piano has always felt very natural to me and it’s one of those things that makes people happy. When you play music you see wonderful smiles on people’s faces.

"There’s been a lot of difficult times in 2018. We all need a bit of happiness and music is something that can elevate us to a different level."

  • Yuanfan Yang will perform the 400th recital for WACIDOM at Holy Trinity Church in Market Gate on Saturday between 12.30pm and 1.15pm