Wenting Shi

Pianist Wenting Shi has garnered prestigious awards and accolades throughout her career.  

In April 2023, she received the first prize in the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship Award in the USA, earning the title of fellow artist. Prior to this, her notable recognitions include winning the First Prize at the Thaviu-Isaak Piano Competition (USA) in April 2023, the Second Prize at the Berlin Artur Schnabel Piano Competition in June 2022, and the Silver Prize at the significant 5th Hong Kong International Piano Competition in 2019. Her solo album under the Naxos label is scheduled to be released in 2025.

Wenting has an track record of winning numerous prizes worldwide, which includes the Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Piano Competition (USA 2018), the CT Young Artist Piano Competition (USA 2018), the Georges Cziffra Prize presented by the Cziffra Stiftung of Austria (Austria 2017), both chamber and solo prizes at the Virtuoso & Bel Canto International Competition (Italy 2018), the San Jose International Piano Competition (USA 2016), the International Toronto Piano Competition (Canada 2015), the 12th International Piano Competition by Taipei Chopin Foundation (Chinese Taipei 2008), and notably, she clinched the grand prize at the 13th Bucharest International Piano Competition (Romania 2006).

Wenting made her orchestral debut performing Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra after winning the Silver Prize in the 2nd National Concerto Competition for Young Musicians in Beijing (China 2005). Her orchestra performances include works such as Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Chinese Taipei, Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

As an international recitalist, Wenting has been invited to perform solo concerts across a multitude of countries and regions, including the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Finland, Romania, Switzerland, the UK, Russia, South Korea, and China.

She has been distinguished by captivating solo recitals hosted at renowned global music venues, including Alice Tully Hall in New York, Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Hong Kong City Hall, Musikverein and ORF Radio Kulturhaus in Vienna, as well as the Shanghai Grand Theatre, among others. She has been acknowledged for outstanding artistry and honored with invitations to participate and give recitals in prestigious international music festivals, among them the Amalfi International Music Festival in Italy, the Villecroze International Music Festival in France, the International Musical Artistry Goslar and the Bonn Beethoven Music Festival in Germany, the Salzburg Mozart International Music Festival and the ISA International Music Festival in Austria, the Lucca International Music Festival in Italy, the Oxford International Music Festival in the UK, and the Aspen Music Festival in the US.

Wenting has served as a judge for the Pearl River · Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition in both 2021 and 2023. She contributed to a commemorative album for the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and ORF Radio Symphony Hall in 2021.  Additionally, she presented the world premiere of composer Minduo Li's “Fantasia 1975,” which was featured in “Piano Artistry” magazine in January 2018.  Wenting has conducted solo concert tours across China, integrating teaching, classical music promotion, and art outreach activities in cities such as Shanghai, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou.

Wenting's musical journey began at the age of 4 when she first started playing the piano.  By the age of 5, she had won the first prize in a national competition in China. She continued her musical education, starting her professional music studies at the age of 8 at the Affiliated Elementary School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

As a child prodigy, Wenting consistently earned recognition and awards, including the first prize in China's 2004 Gu'Lang'yu National Piano Competition for Young Artists and the first prize at the Beethoven Music Festival National Competition in 2004, which led to her solo debut in Germany at the Bonn Beethoven Music Festival.

After completing her studies at the Affiliated High School of the Shanghai Conservatory, where she worked separately with Professors Zijie Wu, Xiao Luo, and Min-duo Li, Wenting began her academic journey at The Juilliard School in New York City in 2011. She was granted a full scholarship and studied with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. In 2015, she graduated with a Bachelor's degree, receiving the Arthur Rubinstein Prize for Academic and Artistic Achievements. Continuing her studies at Juilliard, Wenting obtained her Master of Music degree in 2017. She then pursued further studies at the Yale School of Music with Prof. Boris Berman, earning a Master of Musical Arts degree in 2019. In June 2022, she achieved a Master of Arts degree with the highest distinction, "Auszeichnung/With Distinction," from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she studied with Prof. Avedis Kouyoumdjian.

In February 2022, Wenting gained admission to the "Konzertexamen" degree program with the highest score at the Berlin University of the Arts, under the guidance of Prof. Markus Groh. This program represents the highest educational level in performance in Germany. Moreover, in April 2022, she was awarded a full-ride scholarship to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, studying with Prof. James Giles.

Wenting has been the recipient of numerous prestigious scholarship awards, including the "Outstanding Pianist in Artistry" by the Shanghai Literature and Arts Talent Fund Council, the Shanghai Tang Educational Scholarship, the Chengxian Fu Scholarships, the Carl Friedberg Memorial Scholarship, the Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale Scholarship, the Shendell Scholarship, the Harold & Helene Schonberg Piano Scholarship, the L. & M. Burle Scholarship, the Alexander Siloti Scholarship, the Louise Chisholm Moran Piano Scholarship, the William Petschek Scholarship, the Hui Luen Chao Scholarship, the Adele Marcus Piano Scholarship, the Maskiewitz Scholarship Fund, the Anne Lorraine Hopkins Simpson Scholarship, the Beatrice Ohanessian Memorial Scholarship, the Ender Scholarship, George Wellington Miles Fellowship, Mary Clapp Howell Scholarship, and Alvia S. & Helen Cottongim Endowed Scholarship.