Dominik Yoder
Biography
Dominik directed unusual passion and determination toward music from a very young age, beginning piano studies at the age of two on his own initiative. His playing has been described as “authoritative and lyrical, a powerful technique spiced with an impish sense of humor.”
He received Second Prize in the 2025 Hartford International Chopin Competition, Fourth Prize in the 2025 Fajariah International Piano Competition, Second Prize in the 2024 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the Gold Medal in the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Competition for Young Pianists in Washington, D.C., and the Grand Prize in the 2018 Redlands Competition, thanks to which he performed with an orchestra. He has been awarded First Prize in more than a dozen local, regional, and state competitions.
In 2022, Dominik received the Wybitny Polak (“Outstanding Pole”) award from the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles.
Dominik has performed in Żelazowa Wola (the birthplace of Frederic Chopin) and elsewhere in Poland, Puerto Rico, Germany, and the United States in solo recital, and he has performed with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest Youth Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, and the Hollywood Orchestra for Redlands Bowl.
He has performed on Polish television and radio, and he has participated in master classes with Natalia Troull, Dina Joffe, Eteri Andjaparidze, Edward Wolanin, Alexander Korsantia, Boris Berman, Dmitry Rachmanov, Wojciech Kocjan, Jura Margolis, and Antoinette Perry. He is now under the tutelage of his mother, Roza Yoder, as well as Polish pianist Edward Wolanin.
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I began playing the piano when I was three years old. After watching my older brother take lessons with our mom, I felt a little jealous and eventually started lessons as well. However, I would say it is only recently that I fully committed to becoming a pianist. I initially intended to major in a different field at UCLA, but I suddenly realized that I truly wanted to pursue piano, which has been my focus for the past couple of years.
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My favorite piece of all time must be Brahms’ Second Concerto; it’s such an amazing piece.
I actually developed my sense of perfect pitch from that concerto; I know what a B-flat is specifically because of the French horns coming in at the beginning.
My favorite composer of all time is either Rachmaninoff or Brahms, but I like Ravel, Prokofiev, and Chopin too.
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I really enjoyed the time I played at The Redlands Bowl, which is near Los Angeles. I played Prokofiev’s Third Concerto, and it was a blast! I had such an amazing time, especially playing for a large audience. That experience resonates with me the most.
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I would have to say Daniil Trifonov. When I was learning Prokofiev’s Third Sonata, my mom showed me a video of him playing when he was about my age. I thought it was incredible how he was not only honest with his emotions and super musical but also vulnerable enough to show his natural facial expressions at the same time that adds to the music. He is definitely my biggest inspiration.
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I like to think of things that I find beautiful and then find ways to translate those qualities into my music. Sometimes when I am in a room or on a flight, for example, I will ask myself, "What is the most beautiful thing here?" It takes a few moments of realization before I can pinpoint my favorite object, but once I do, I begin to analyze it: Why did that specific thing stand out? What makes it special among everything else?
I like to establish these kinds of personal axioms for beauty, and when I return to the piano, I try to achieve them in a musical way.
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I don’t think I have a very unique practice technique; I probably do what most other people do. I became a lot more extensive in my routine, though. I used to just do slow-to-fast metronome work. But then I realized how much different methods can help, and how much practicing each hand separately can help, too.
My routine is basically that I'll practice the left hand with a lot of different methods, and then I'll practice the right hand the same way. Next, I'll practice the right hand slow to fast with the metronome from slow to fast, followed by the left hand in the same way. Finally, I play both hands together from slow to fast with the metronome, which is very effective.
When I encounter a slow section, I tell myself that I'm going to play it ten times before moving on to the next technical section. That way, it's not like I'm only practicing the technical stuff; I also give myself at least ten chances to discover something new in the slow sections as well.
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Actually, I'm super excited. I was lucky enough to win a competition here in LA, and I'm getting to play Chopin's Second Concerto with an orchestra on the 29th of May.
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Definitely the biggest challenge was that I have schizoaffective bipolar disorder. I had times in my life when it was almost impossible to pursue what I am doing now. I overcame it because I was fortunate enough to have parents who invested in a good psychiatrist. I was able to get back on track, and I'm good now. So that was 100% the biggest challenge.
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I never wanted it to sound like it was intentional, but I've unfortunately had a lot of experience covering up memory lapses. There was one instance that's quite famous; people I know always tease me about it.
I was beginning Chopin's "Winter Wind" etude. Usually, you practice it starting from the fast part because the whole thing is fast, but in the very first line, you have those opening chords. I always practiced from the fast part, and I would just make sure I could play the chords well and voice them properly.
But this time around, I'm on stage, and I'm playing the chords. Suddenly, I forgot the starting note of the fast section. I started on the completely wrong note, but the pattern kept continuing. I managed to catch the correct note at one point in the chromatic run. Afterward, people were like, "How on earth did you even save that?"
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I would say to actually trust your parents when they tell you that playing the piano will be beneficial for you in the long run. I was pretty skeptical and didn't want to do it for a good portion of my life; I thought there was no way I'd ever be sitting here saying, "I'm so happy I did it because my mom and dad made me." But now, I realize that I'm actually very happy I kept it going despite having wanted to quit.
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That's a very good question. I think Chopin's music is often very simple. If you listen to the Mazurkas, for instance, they are very simple. Because of how simple it can be, you have to use rubato and be creative to make it sound good.
Often, you'll just have left-hand triplets all the way down there and a single-note melody in the right hand. Something you need for Chopin for sure, but might not need as much in Beethoven, Mozart, or even Rachmaninoff, is the use of rubato.
I think Chopin is just so incredibly good at talking with his notes and having his own distinct language.
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I actually do compose, and I think I’m all for someone discovering something new in my piece. Often, I will even think to myself that maybe a section was supposed to be written a certain way, but I wrote it differently and was wrong for doing so. When someone is confident enough to establish their own way of playing it, that honestly fulfills the music better than I did when I was putting it down on paper and wondering if it was good or not. I definitely love it when someone finds a new way to interpret a piece of mine.
