“A painter paints pictures on canvas. Musicians paint pictures on silence.”

Biography

Praised by the Los Angeles Opus for his “liquid sensitivity” and “formidable power” as a soloist, and for his “discreet exactitude” as an collaborative pianist, Łukasz Yoder’s distinctive pianism is the result of accumulation of musical traditions tracing back to Beethoven himself.

Grand Prize Winner of the Lansum International Music Festival, Lukasz is a top prizewinner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions, Claudette Sorel International Piano Competition in Fredonia, New York, Classics Alive National Auditions, The Kosciusko Foundations National Chopin Competition in Washington D.C, The International Chopin Competition in Hartford, Connecticut, Glendale Piano Competition, MTAC, MTNA, CAPMT State Finals, and the statewide Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Competition.  

Lukasz has performed extensively on both coasts of the United States, Europe and Puerto Rico, in venues that include Zipper Hall of the Colburn School of Music, the Polish Embassy in Washington DC, the Kosciuszko Foundation’s headquarters in NYC, the Steinway Society of Puerto Rico, the Dzialynski Palace and White Hall of Poznan, Poland, as well as Zelazowa Wola, Chopin's birthplace.

Most recently, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Southern California, performing on the Noontime Concert Series at Los Angeles City City College, the Modzejewska Club Evening Concerts, The Music by the Sea Concert Series in Encinitas, and the Interludes Concert Series in Torrance, as well as the Classical Encounters Concert Series in Orange County. Upcoming performances include at Stan Harris Music Parlor, UCLA Chancellor Series, and Encinitas Concert’s at Noon Series.

He has recorded for Polish Radio and Television, and been featured in the Polish and American Press. 

Lukasz is currently a full scholarship student at the UCLA Herp Alpert School of Music, where he studies with Professor Inna Faliks, Chair of the Piano Department. He continues to be mentored by his mother, Roza Kostrzewska Yoder, with whom he studied up to age 18, as well as American Pianist Garrick Ohlsson.

 Lukasz had a unique upbringing. Both of his parents teach piano, and both he and his two younger brothers play piano, and were taught by their mother until college. A Los Angeles native who treasures his Polish heritage, Lukasz enjoys skateboarding and surfing, as well as dancing in his Polish folk dance troupe Krakusy, reading Polish literature, and playing the music of Fryderyk Chopin. He hopes to participate in the Chopin competition in 2025.