One of the world's leading pianists, Yin, Cheng-Zong was born on China¡¯s "Piano Island" of Gulangyu in Xiamen, Fujian Province. He gave his first recital at age nine. Three years later he entered the pre-college of the Shanghai Conservatory and then transferred to the Central Conservatory in Beijing. Mr. Yin later traveled to Russia to study with Tatiana Kravchenko, graduating from the Leningrad Conservatory and Central Conservatory in Beijing. Throughout his career Mr. Yin has touched millions of souls with his music.

Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote that he demonstrated an "absolutely beautiful command of piano colors." He has won numerous awards, including the gold medal at the World Youth Peace and Friendship Festival held in Vienna in 1959 and second prize in the 1962 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, at which time he was only 20 years old. He has since become a legend in the music world and is one of four Chinese musicians who are listed in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, published in 1980. Mr. Yin made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City in 1983 and has returned four times as a soloist. The New York Times has called him "China's best pianist." Through the years Mr. Yin has traveled worldwide, performing under the baton of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sir Malcolm Sargent and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also appeared in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and at Lincoln Center. His solo performances were featured on China's Central Television and CBS Sunday Morning. Formerly a professor and artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mr. Yin now lives in New York City.

Mr. Yin is not only a virtuoso interpreter of Western masters, he is also a composer of highly renowned piano pieces. His piano interpretations of traditional Beijing opera and other classic Chinese music, combined with his contribution to the Yellow River Concerto have made him a household name in China. His recording of the latter piece received a Gold Record award. Mr. Yin has released more than 20 albums, including an all-Chopin CD and a recording of Debussy's Preludes; forthcoming recordings include Rachmaninoff's Concertos No. 2 and 3 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Yin's 50th-anniversary concert tour began in Boston's Jordan Hall. The impact of his splendid music was described as the "Yin Cheng Zong Tornado" in the Boston area. Mr. Yin also has presented many successful concerts in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Beijing, Guangzhou, Fujian, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington, D.C on tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Yin recently began a tour of China with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in his hometown of Gulangyu, where he held his first concert 50 years ago.