Pianist Paul Ji brings a program of Chopin, Debussy and Beethoven to Granada Church in Coral Gables on Sunday, Nov. 8.

The free recital opens the Coral Gables portion of the Chopin Foundation of the United States’ 2026-27 Chopin for All season. It begins at 3 p.m. at the church, 950 University Drive. General admission seating is first-come, first-served, and the foundation encourages registering in advance.

A semifinalist in Miami’s 2025 National Chopin Piano Competition, Ji graduated from Yale University in 2026. His website reports that he studied music and philosophy, earned distinction in music and received Yale College’s Louis Sudler Prize for artistic achievement.

Ji was born in Chicago and grew up in France. His training included 10 years with Qin Yingming, a 1981 Long-Thibaud Competition laureate, followed by an Artist Diploma from the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where he studied with Jean-Bernard Pommier, according to his Paris concert biography.

Ji won the French television competition “Prodiges” in 2019, receiving the award from pianist Lang Lang. Warner Classics released his first album the following year, when he was 16. Its selections include music by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Liszt.

His concert appearances include the Berlin Philharmonie and Vienna’s Musikverein. His recording work also includes “Dans la nuit,” a Chopin adaptation recorded with singer Sarah Brightman, according to the foundation’s biography.

His Yale accomplishments include winning the William Waite Concerto Competition and appearing with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. In an artist biography by French arts journalist Olivier Bas, Ji recalled a high school question that helped lead him toward philosophy: “What is time? Because music needs time.”

His goal, he said, is simple: “To be in connection with the composer.”

The program

Sunday’s first half features four Chopin works: the Ballade No. 3, the Nocturne Op. 48 No. 1, the Waltz Op. 34 No. 1 and the Fantasy Op. 49, according to the official program. Three of those pieces date from 1841, the Gables Gazette reported.

After intermission, Ji turns to Debussy’s “Images,” Book I, then Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21, the “Waldstein.” He closes with Chopin’s “Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante.”

The Gazette reported that the work also concluded his October 2024 debut at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Ji is scheduled to return to that hall June 19, 2027, according to its season listing.

The foundation’s ticket listing schedules the recital through 5 p.m. and advertises a livestream, with the viewing link listed as forthcoming. Parking is free in the church lot and on nearby streets.

A long-running Coral Gables tradition

The Miami-based foundation has offered free Chopin for All concerts since 1996, according to its competition publication. Granada Church is the series’ longtime Coral Gables venue.

The 2026-27 season begins Saturday, Nov. 7, with Ji’s performance in Fort Lauderdale, followed by the Coral Gables recital Sunday. Both concerts feature the same program.

Coming up

Pianist Oliver Moore, another 2025 National Chopin Piano Competition semifinalist, performs at Granada Church at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. The foundation’s current listing says his program will be announced.