Chinese pianist Tianyao Lyu has announced her debut album, Chopin, on her 18th birthday. The Decca Classics release comes exactly one year after Lyu became one of the youngest finalists at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where she received joint Fourth Prize and the Best Concerto Prize at age 16.

Recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Hall in May, the album brings together Lyu’s personal selection of Chopin works. Most were part of her program at the 2025 competition, where she made her international breakthrough. The recording includes the “Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante,” the “Raindrop Prelude,” the three Mazurkas, Op. 59, “Berceuse,” “Barcarolle,” “Nocturne,” Op. 62 No. 1, and Chopin’s variations on Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano.” It also features “Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor.”

“Chopin has always held a very special place in my heart, so choosing his music for my debut album felt like the most natural thing to do,” Lyu said. She signed an exclusive recording agreement with Decca Classics in June 2026.

Lyu toured Japan in August, performing both Chopin piano concertos and giving a solo recital at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. She later returned to Warsaw to perform Mozart with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Krzysztof Urbański.

Lyu will make her UK debut with the Hallé at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on October 29 and November 1, performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 under Kahchun Wong.

Pre-save the album here.