2024 Contestants
Zihao Wu
China
Age 26
Sponsored by Plum Foundation, John T & Debbie Montford
Hosted by Sandy Nguyen & Richard Rybacki
Zihao Wu entered the Central Conservatory of Music, Piano Academy in Gulangyu, China at the age of eleven. While in school, he was the recipient of many scholarships, including the YAMAHA Scholarship, and performed on China Central Television nationwide in 2012 and 2016. In 2017, Wu entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and entered the master’s degree program at The Juilliard School in 2021, as a student of Sergei Babayan. Now, Zihao is continuing to work with him on an artist diploma in the Meadows School of the Arts in Texas.
His first solo recital debut was at age 13. At age 14, Wu gave a performance tour in Austria, Germany, France, and Poland, and made his orchestral debut with the Bydgoszcz Symphony Orchestra in Poland. Then, he began to play with many major orchestras in China, including the Xiamen Philharmonic orchestra at the Fujian Opera house (2017), Qingdao Philharmonic orchestra at the Shandong Art Center (2019). At age 16 he won engagements to concertize in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Qingdao, among other major cities of China, performing the complete 24 Chopin Etudes, Op.10 and Op. 25. In 2019, Wu was awarded a full scholarship to the 2019 Pianofest in the Hamptons, NY, where he was an audience favorite. Engagements followed in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Miami.
Wu was also a prize winner in several national and international competitions such as the Hongkong Chopin competition, YAMAHA Scholarship competition. He received The Sadie Zellen Piano Prize in 2021.
Repertoire
ROUND I
BEETHOVEN Sonata in E major Op.109
CHOPIN Rondo à la Mazurka in F Major, Op. 5
STRAVINSKY Three movements from Petrushka
ROUND II
SCHUMANN ‘Abegg’ variations Op.1
SCRIABIN Fantasy in B minor Op. 28
JIANZHONG WANG Liuyang River (1972)
ALBÉNIZ Malagueña from Rumores de la Caleta Op. 71 No. 6
LISZT Réminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418
ROUND III
ZHANG ZHAO Pihuang (Moments from Beijing Opera) (1995)
AARON PRADO El Colibrí y la Cempasúchil (2023)
ROUND IV
LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, S.124
Zihao Wu
China
Age 26
Sponsored by Plum Foundation, John T & Debbie Montford
Hosted by Sandy Nguyen & Richard Rybacki
Zihao Wu entered the Central Conservatory of Music, Piano Academy in Gulangyu, China at the age of eleven. While in school, he was the recipient of many scholarships, including the YAMAHA Scholarship, and performed on China Central Television nationwide in 2012 and 2016. In 2017, Wu entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and entered the master’s degree program at The Juilliard School in 2021, as a student of Sergei Babayan. Now, Zihao is continuing to work with him on an artist diploma in the Meadows School of the Arts in Texas.
His first solo recital debut was at age 13. At age 14, Wu gave a performance tour in Austria, Germany, France, and Poland, and made his orchestral debut with the Bydgoszcz Symphony Orchestra in Poland. Then, he began to play with many major orchestras in China, including the Xiamen Philharmonic orchestra at the Fujian Opera house (2017), Qingdao Philharmonic orchestra at the Shandong Art Center (2019). At age 16 he won engagements to concertize in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Qingdao, among other major cities of China, performing the complete 24 Chopin Etudes, Op.10 and Op. 25. In 2019, Wu was awarded a full scholarship to the 2019 Pianofest in the Hamptons, NY, where he was an audience favorite. Engagements followed in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Miami.
Wu was also a prize winner in several national and international competitions such as the Hongkong Chopin competition, YAMAHA Scholarship competition. He received The Sadie Zellen Piano Prize in 2021.
Repertoire
ROUND I
BEETHOVEN Sonata in E major Op.109
CHOPIN Rondo à la Mazurka in F Major, Op. 5
STRAVINSKY Three movements from Petrushka
ROUND II
SCHUMANN ‘Abegg’ variations Op.1
SCRIABIN Fantasy in B minor Op. 28
JIANZHONG WANG Liuyang River (1972)
ALBÉNIZ Malagueña from Rumores de la Caleta Op. 71 No. 6
LISZT Réminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418
ROUND III
ZHANG ZHAO Pihuang (Moments from Beijing Opera) (1995)
AARON PRADO El Colibrí y la Cempasúchil (2023)
ROUND IV
LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, S.124
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