Concert Pianist

Ching-Yun Hu, piano
Winner, 2009 Concert Artists Guild Competition
Silver Medal/Audience Prize, 2008 Rubinstein International Piano Competition, Israel

Hailed for her “...superstar quality that everybody looks for...Musical, energetic and full of flair,” (The Jerusalem Post), Taiwanese pianist Ching-Yun Hu is a winner of the 2009 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. In 2008, she captured the top prize and the Audience Favorite Prize at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv.  Ms. Hu’s performances of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Israel Philharmonic in the finale of that competition were broadcast live by international channel “Mezzo” to 38 countries.  Deeply impressed by her artistry, the leading Israeli newspaper, Yediot Acharonot, proclaimed: “She has the suspense of Brendel, Perahia’s lyricism and Barenboim’s depth.”

This victory resulted in a seven-city recital tour across Israel and a special invitation from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, stepping in for Hélène Grimaud on only a week’s notice.

Since then, Ching-Yun Hu’s career has flourished with a host of international engagements on five continents. Featured 2009-2010 recitals include London's Southbank Centre, Munich's Herkulesaal (broadcast on Bayerischer Rundfunk), the Great Hall at Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Vredenburg Festival in the Netherlands, Klavierfrühling in Austria, National Concert Hall in Taipei and Boston’s Longy School of Music (with live broadcast on WGBH Radio).

Current concerto engagements include the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and a tour with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the Israel Symphony Orchestra and the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra (UK). She made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in a sold out concert performing the Grieg Piano Concerto and has also been a featured soloist with the Aspen Concert Orchestra, New York Sinfonietta, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, World Festival Orchestra and Viana do Castelo Festival Orchestra.

Recent recital highlights are Wigmore Hall in London, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Opera House in Tel Aviv, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, National Concert Hall of Taipei, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Salle Cortot in Paris, Aspen Music Festival, Chopin International Festival in Poland, Rubinstein Philharmonic Hall in Lodz, National Chiang Kai-Shek Performance Hall and Japan’s Osaka Hall. She has also performed on series and festivals in the US, UK, Israel, France, Spain, Brazil and at the Maputo International Music Festival in Mozambique, Africa.

Ching-Yun Hu was born in Taipei, Taiwan and received an honorary prize in 2008 from the Cultural Minister of Taiwan in recognition of her achievements. She made her concerto debut at age 13 with the Poland Capella Cracoriensis Chamber Orchestra on tour in Japan and Taiwan and won the Silver Medal at the Taipei International Piano Competition at age 16.  More recently, she also won the Gold medal at the 2007 World Piano Competition of Cincinnati and First prize at the 2006 the Olga Koussevitzky International Piano Competition in New York.

Ms. Hu moved to the US at the age of 14 to continue her music studies at The Juilliard School in New York, studying piano with Herbert Stessin and Oxana Yablonskaya and chamber music with Joseph Kalichstein and Seymour Lipkin. Additionally, she received artistic guidance from Richard Goode, Murray Perahia and has worked extensively with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She presently works in the Soloklasse with Karl-Heinz Kammerling at the Hochschule fur Musik und Drama in Hannover, Germany.