Cheng Yi

Yi Cheng studied under clarinet professor Mr. Dong Dejun, he won the grand prize at the Beijing International Clarinet Music Festival in 1998. In 2001, Yi Cheng was admitted to the Berlin Conservatory of Music in Germany as the only student from China, and went to Germany to study under the tutelage of Professor Diethelm Kuhn, who is the principal clarinet of the German Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the world-famous clarinet master Karl Leister. Then he studied clarinet orchestra performance under the current principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Wenzel Fuchs, and professor Ralf Forster, the principal clarinet of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (BSO). In 2004, Yi Cheng received a full Hanns Eisler scholarship and representing the Berlin Conservatory of Music, he attended the "International Music Festival Master Class" held in Obersdorf, a city in southern Germany, where he studied under clarinet professor Norbert Kaiser at the Stuttgart Conservatory of Music. , and played at the music festival. Professor Norbert Kaiser commented on Yi Cheng's performance: "I’m fully aware that Yi Cheng is not only an excellent clarinetist with a serious attitude, but also he has a rare sensitive intuition for music. He is an extraordinary musician with special talents, especially his soft, passionate tone that is an expression of his own personality..."

Since 2003, Yi Cheng has been employed as principal clarinet by the RIAS Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlin, Germany), and has performed with the orchestra in Italy, Poland, Austria, Russia and other countries. In August 2005, he was invited to participate in the Xi'an International Clarinet Art Festival, Yi Cheng's solo concert was well received by European and American performers. In October 2005, as a soloist, he collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's principal trumpet Professor Thomas Clamor and performed Ravid's clarinet, violin, piano concerto and other works with the Berlin Wind Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, he was invited by the Berlin Youth Symphony Orchestra as a guest principal to perform with the orchestra and world-class conductor Simon Rattle, who was the former artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert was covered live by the German National Radio and Television (RBB).

From 2008 to 2023, he served as principal clarinet of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, playing an important role in wind section. During his tenure, he participated in the rehearsal of a large number of Chinese and foreign music works that are of different periods, themes, and styles. He worked collaboration with many famous Chinese and foreign conductors, performers, and singers, and excellently interpreted different types of music works, making great contribution towards the development of diversity of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. He worked in collaboration with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra for many times as a soloist and performed a series of clarinet masterpieces with great success. In addition to playing, he is also actively devoted to the development of music and education in the country, he served as artistic director of the Shenzhen International Clarinet Art Week, which received great praise by his peers. In March 2022, he was invited by the Tianjin Juilliard School to deliver a Yi Cheng clarinet master class. As a Buffet clarinet artist, he held a clarinet master class during Qingdao International Clarinet Art Festival in August 2022. He also served as a judge for the 2021 and 2023 Buffet Cup (China) Youth Clarinet Competition, and in 2023, he also served as the artistic director of the Shenzhen Bay Classical Music Festival.