Yiran Cai

China

selected candidate

2026 CHENGDU INTERNATIONAL CLARINET COMPETITION

school affiliation

Affiliated School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music

Cai Yiran was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in February 2011. He began his clarinet enlightenment at the age of 9 under Teacher Zhao Liang, a clarinetist with the Chengdu City Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, he joined the Sprout Wind Orchestra as a clarinetist and bass clarinetist. In 2023, he became a member of the Lunan Clarinet Quartet, also serving as a clarinetist and bass clarinetist. Later that year, he was admitted to the Affiliated Secondary School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, where he continued his studies under Teacher Sun Zhen, a clarinetist from the Orchestral Department of Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

In 2021, he won the second place in the Amateur Orchestra Group of the 2nd Buffet (China) Youth Clarinet Competition. In February 2023, he claimed the second place in the Individual Division of the 1st Yuchu Youth Clarinet Competition, and in June of the same year, he participated in the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan-Chongqing Excellent Juvenile Clarinetist Concert. He went on to win the second place in the Amateur Orchestra Group of the 3rd Buffet Cup (China) Youth Clarinet Competition in July 2023, followed by the first place in the Individual Under 12 Group at the Thailand International Clarinet Competition that October. In May 2024, he won the first prize in the Clarinet Professional Juvenile Group of the Sichuan Preliminary Round of the 10th Melbourne International Music Competition, and in June, he took home the first prize in the Special Ensemble (Chamber Music) Group C (Professional Group) of the Hummingbird Music Award of China Youth Music Competition. That July, he secured the first place in the Professional Ensemble Group of the 2024 Yunnan International Clarinet Art Festival and the 1st Koletman Cup National Youth Clarinet Competition. In January 2026, he was awarded both the Highest Honor Award in the Intermediate Group and the first place in the Ensemble Group of the Ghent International Youth Clarinet Competition.