Born in Shanghai and raised in Melbourne, Yelian began studying the Cello at the age of 5, almost two years after he commenced studies on the Piano with his father.
Hailed as a “consummate master of the bow” by The Strad magazine in his Wigmore Hall debut, He is the winner of the 2009 Royal Over-Seas League String Competition in London as well as the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Australian Cello Awards competition in Sydney.