Alicia Wagner Calzada | 210SA Contributor

On paper, Joyce Yang is the stereotype of a driven, ambitious young star of the classical music scene.

In 2005, at 19, Yang racked up three awards at the prestigious 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, including the silver medal. In 2006, she made her New York Philharmonic Debut.

Now, at 21, Yang, who was born in Korea but who has lived in New York for many years, is a featured guest artist with symphonies across the United States, and will be the guest at this weekend's San Antonio Symphony concerts.

But here's the deal. She's not that impressed with all that.

“It was never like, ‘Oh, my God. This is my life's calling. I will be a fabulous musician,'.”

Yang said, sounding exasperated.

Like, really.

Instead, she said, her performances are about just one person — the one person out there in the audience who “gets it.”

“One person can get moved at a performance where 3,000 people (are in attendance), and I'm content,” she said. “It doesn't take much for me to be happy.”

Yang will perform Mozart's “Piano Concerto No. 24,” which she says has “a lot of drama” in two concerts with the San Antonio Symphony this weekend. Also on the program are works by Schubert, Elgar and Mendelssohn.

Yang has a history of getting nervous when she's competing — she lost 15 pounds in three weeks and had to have her dresses re-fitted in the 2005 Van Cliburn trials. But lately, she said, her approach to performance has become a little more relaxed.

“I just want to know that, once in a while, I can move people,” she said.

At a recent school concert, the more than 1,000 students in the audience were out of control, she said.

“They wouldn't sit still, they're screaming, and I'm thinking, ‘Why am I doing this? It's meaningless.'.”

But then, after her last note echoed into the hall, and the kids began to file out, one girl stayed behind.

“A girl completely broke down,” Yang said. “She couldn't leave the hall, it was just this emotional outburst. The music traveled from the paper in front of me and found its way to her heart. It reached her, and it touched her. That's the most amazing thing ever.”

Jennifer Roolf Laster | 210SA Contributor