Dinner with Arts Envoy and Classical Pianist Pauline Yang

On March 25, 2025, the Edward R. Murrow Center welcomed classical pianist and Fletcher alum Pauline Yang for an unforgettable evening of conversation. Held in the Murrow Room, the event brought together faculty and guests to explore the intersection of music and diplomacy, including Ms. Yang’s former capstone advisor and founding director of diplomatic studies at The Fletcher School, Alan Henrikson, as well as aspiring diplomats taking Professor Carolyn Gideon’s Public Diplomacy course.

A celebrated performer and U.S. Arts Envoy, Yang’s story is as inspiring as it is unique. She began her musical training at age five, won her first international piano competition at seven, and made her Carnegie Hall debut by eleven, just before entering The Juilliard School.

Her concert career has since taken her to five continents, with highlights including performances at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, the Franz Liszt Academy’s Grand Hall in Hungary, and collaborations with musical greats like Yo-Yo Ma and Leon Fleisher. She spent nearly a decade teaching with the renowned Perlman Music Program and has shared music with young patients at hospitals in Los Angeles and Boston.

Yang’s journey didn’t stop at music. At the University of Southern California, she double-majored in piano and political science, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. She then earned dual master’s degrees—from USC in piano performance and from Fletcher in international relations, where her thesis examined the role of music in diplomacy at the White House.

Her commitment to cultural diplomacy has taken her across the globe as a U.S. State Department Arts Envoy, where she’s performed for audiences in Japan, Ethiopia, Portugal, Nigeria, and even NATO Headquarters in Brussels—marking the venue’s first-ever solo concert.

Throughout the evening, Yang shared reflections on her work at the crossroads of culture and statecraft, offering Fletcher students a compelling example of how the arts can serve international engagement and peacebuilding. Guests were treated not only to her story but also to a shared meal and a sense of how music continues to transcend borders.

The Murrow Center is honored to have hosted Pauline Yang, whose life and career beautifully exemplify diplomacy in action through the universal language of music.