Overview
Biography
Pianist Song Siheng was born in Shanghai, China in 1981 and is widely regarded as one of the top pianists of his generation. As the multiple winner of numerous competitions, he has performed in important venues and with prestigious orchestras around the globe. His early studies began at the age of three, and 1991, he was accepted in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying under Professors Sheng Yiqi, and Xu Zhong. He graduated from the school in 2001. During his time of study, he won many prizes including first prize at the Beijing National Piano Competition, and silver medals at the Porto Piano Competition in Portugal and the Shanghai International Piano Competition, along with additional special prizes.
In 2002, Siheng was awarded a scholarship from the Zaleski Foundation, enabling him to study abroad in France in the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Prof. Marian Rybicki. After receiving his Diploma of Concert Pianist, he went on to study with Olivier Gardon in the Conservatory of Paris, and is currently studying privately with Dominique Merlet. He has also participated in masterclasses with masters such as Phillipe Entremont, Michel Dalberto and Dmitri Bashkirov.
After moving to Paris, Siheng began collecting many definitive prizes, such as first prizes in the Pontoise Piano Campus Concours, Morocco International Piano Concours, Viseu International Competition in Portugal, Grand Prix Animato International Concours. He was also a prizewinner at the Leeds, Dublin, and most importantly, the Grand Prize at the 2004 Long Thibaud Piano Concours, making him the first Chinese to win this prestige competition.
Since his victory in Paris, Song Siheng has toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia. He has appeared in venues such as Suntory and Sumuda Triphony halls in Tokyo, NHK and Symphony Halls in Osaka, Theatre Chatelet, Theatre Mogador, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot, Beethoven-haus, Dworek Chopina, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Beijing National grand Theatre, etc. His many festival engagements include festival de la Roque d'Antheron in France, Ruhr Festival in Germany, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Chopin Festival in Duszniki in Poland and so on.
He has played with many orchestras such as Orchestra Philharmonic de Radio France,Orchestra de Paris, Orchestra Nationale de France, Orchestra Nationale de Lille, Orchestra Phiharmonic de Monte-Carlo, Chamber Orchestra of Toulouse, Orchestra de la Pays de Loire, Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Kansai Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orhcestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, etc. He has collaborated with maestros such as Marek Janowski, James Judd, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Alain Lombard, Edo de Waart, Moshe Atzmon,Mark Elde and so on.
In 2009, he became the resident artist of the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Recently, Siheng recorded several CDs for Radio France, DG to high acclaim. His first solo CD was released in April under the Passavant label. Despite his young age, Song Siheng has been invited to judge at various competitions, including the Morocco International Piano Competition, the Grand Prix Animato, and the Grandes Amateurs International Piano Competition in Paris.
