Yuanyuan Que (阙媛媛) is a pianist, composer, researcher, poet, and university instructor whose multidisciplinary artistry exemplifies the modern ideal of the scholar-artist. Her expressive and intellectually rigorous musicianship bridges musical performance with literary creation, drawing upon her background in composition and poetry to approach the classical repertoire with analytical depth and coloristic imagination. Yuanyuan received her doctoral training in Piano Performance at the University of Alberta under the guidance of Professor Jacques Després and Professor Zhenni Li-Cohen, both distinguished Juilliard alumni. Prior to her doctoral studies, she earned her Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas under Professor Gustavo Romero, a distinguished Juilliard alumnus, following her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Piano Performance from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
An internationally award-winning artist, Yuanyuan has received recognition through championship honors and top prizes across Europe and North America. She is the Absolute First Prize Winner and recipient of the Best Beethoven Performance Special Award at the 2025 Beethoven International Music Competition UK and was selected as an International Cultural Role Model by the European Philately Association in 2024. Her extensive laureate record further includes the Grand Prize at the Royal Sound Keyboard Competition (Montreal), the Gold Prize and Special Prize at the Manchester International Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the USA Classical Music International Competition, and Second Prize in the Professional Artist Division of the 2024 IPPA Conero International Piano Competition. In Canada, she has received several prestigious distinctions, including the 2024 Johann Strauss Foundation Music Award, the Alberta Baroque Music Society Award in Music, and the Edmonton Chamber Music Society Scholarship Competition Award. Her multidisciplinary achievements trace back to an early stage of her career, when she won the Championship Award at the World Expo German Writing Competition sponsored by the Goethe-Institut. She is also an elected member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society (Alpha Alpha Chapter), the Alpha Chi National Honor Society, and the Golden Key International Honour Society.
As a performer, Yuanyuan has presented solo recitals, chamber performances, collaborative concerts, and improvisational performances across Asia, Europe, and North America. She has appeared at venues including the Timms Centre for the Arts and Convocation Hall at the University of Alberta, Voertman Hall and the Recital Hall at the University of North Texas, Muttart Conservatory, and Dallas Public Library. Her festival and invited performances include the New Music Edmonton Festival, the Summer Solstice Music Festival, the Strauss Ball, the Canadian Business Leader Awards, and the Satie-Ricon Music Festival.
As a composer, researcher, and poet, Yuanyuan has released several albums of original compositions, including Last Summer, Pure Instrumental Music, and The Earth's Core. Her original compositions and research articles have appeared in professional and academic journals. In 2026, she published her poetry collection These Years (《这些年》).
A dedicated educator, Yuanyuan has extensive university-level teaching experience in both China and Canada. She taught at universities in China for four years, mentoring undergraduate students and teaching piano performance courses. At the University of Alberta, her appointments have included Principal Instructor for MUSIC 129: Fundamental Keyboard Skills, teaching assistant for the opera course, and collaborative pianist for the choral conducting course. Her administrative leadership includes serving as Vice President (Performance) of the Graduate Music Students' Association (GMSA) and Vice President (Events) of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association (ARMTA) Collegiate Chapter.