Paul Ji

Olivier Bas, Journaliste Culture & Directeur Artistique

A pianist plays with elegance while maintaining sophisticated restraint.

At regular intervals, new talents emerge, making a splash in the vibrant world of classical music. With his piano, Paul Ji is one of them.

His achievements and numerous awards, most of which were won unanimously by the jury, speak for him at just 20 years old. Notably, he is a seven-time laureate of the Steinway International Competition. In 2019, he won ‘Prodiges’ on France 2, a prize presented to him by pianist Lang Lang. He had already performed Chopin on this show, a fond memory for him as it marked his first time playing with an orchestra, though he primarily sees himself as a solo concert pianist. This victory allowed him to record his first album with Warner Classics, featuring Chopin, of course, as well as Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and Liszt. Shortly after, he recorded the piece ‘Dans la nuit’ with crossover superstar Sarah Brightman, from her album ‘France’… once again, Chopin.

Genius? With elegance, he dismisses the term, only to quickly speak of what music can bring to each person’s life, starting with his own. It would be cliché to say that he lives for music, as he strives to go even further. This Franco-American, born in Chicago to Chinese parents and raised in Fontainebleau, followed the path paved by his sister Esther, who was the first in the family to sit at the piano. As a child, he loved football, but the piano soon took over his life with no turning back, much to his joy and to the delight of both expert and novice ears. ‘The piano is the mirror of who I am,’ he says when asked about his relationship with the instrument. We suggest: an extension of his personality. He responds, ‘It’s my way of expressing myself.’ A friendly piano, even though at times it feels like a sport—exhausting, yet gentle.

Paul Ji lives for the piano and already knows that he will dedicate his life to it. However, he has decided to combine this vital passion, which gives him ‘a joy for life,’ with the study of philosophy, even if it means delaying album releases and concerts around the world that are already within his reach—from Carnegie Hall in New York (2012) to Berlin Philpharmonie (2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (2024) and Golden Hall of Musikverein (2025). This is his way of continually perfecting his playing. Whether guided by Kant and Descartes, or under the tutelage of his first teachers in Paris, Qin Yingming and Jean-Bernard Pommier (with him, Paul studied at the Ecole Nomale de Paris de Musique and obtained Artist Diploma), as well as Yale University’s Professor Wei-Yi Yang, he has been exploring the deeper meanings of music.

Music is both logic and emotion. In high school, with the piano embedded in his heart, an essential question arose: ‘What is time? Because music needs time.’ Paul Ji decided to better understand life, gain more control over his imagination, and learn what a story is—since music tells a story. He is now pursuing philosophy studies, armed with his piano, at Yale University. His way of seeing the world around him will become his signature. His hands will tell the story of his life and his vision of it. This is how he experiences music—a source of endless happiness.

While he admits to listening to a bit of jazz, he only knows Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish by name, preferring to immerse himself in Mozart, Brahms, Debussy, Prokofiev, and… Chopin. Everyone has their own heros.

His ultimate goal (which he gladly offers us)? ‘To be in connection with the composer,’ to make a piece his own and deliver it to the audience with his hands and his heart.

HWe imagine him as a composer. Without hesitation or false modesty, he knows he’s not there yet, and above all, ‘There are so many existing pieces to interpret.’ Fair enough, we will wait.

This almost metaphysical approach is in no way opaque. Paul Ji is deeply convinced that (classical) music brings comfort to people in all circumstances. That’s why his major project is to establish his association ‘Music for Good,’ an extension of the concerts he instinctively organized as a teenager in the palliative care unit of the Fontainebleau hospital. One can imagine that when the doctors told him the patients were happy, he felt like he was in the right place. Yes, music can change the world, each in their own way.

Why is Paul Ji unique? Certainly, he won’t answer that himself. He does his job: playing the piano for others with his beautiful bow tie around his neck. Refined rather than explosive, structured, he “tries” to respect the composer while incorporating what he learns from life. His youth is neither an asset nor a handicap, but a reality.

For this exceptional evening at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on October 19, 2024, his first major Parisian stage, Paul Ji has chosen to perform only Chopin, a composer who, in his eyes, innovated in piano writing. A perfectionist, last summer he visited Chopin’s house to better understand him. He discovered that Chopin’s preserved and displayed hands were not so different from his own…

As a sublime intermediary between a work and our ears, he approaches music like a poet, balancing reason and spontaneity with Beauty as his horizon.

Paul’s passionate performances received very high praise from many established pianists such as Lang Lang, John Lill, etc.