Overview
Biography
Sun Yingdi (b. 1980) won First Prize at the prestigious 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, which was held in Utrecht in 2005. By winning the prize he has embarked on a demanding international concert tour. In recent seasons, Yingdi has given numerous performances in Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Spain, Swizterland, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, China, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the United States.
Already on the morning after the Final of the Liszt Competition, Yingdi performed in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jean-Bernard Pommier. In the course of his concert tour, he has played with numerous leading orchestras including the Rotterdam Philharmonic (conducted by Michel Plasson), the Czech National Symphony Orchestra (with Daniel Raiskin), the Hong Kong Philharmonic (with Edo de Waart), l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (with Myung-Whun Chung), the Macao Orchestra (with András Ligeti) and the Shanghai Opera Orchestra (with Zoltán Kocsis).
In May 2006, Yingdi worked with conductor Stefan Asbury, playing Benjamin Britten's piano concerto with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra during the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. The performance was highly praised by the famous musicologist Donald Mitchell, who had worked with Britten for more than twenty years. In August 2006, he performed in the Konzerthaus Berlin with maestro Muhai Tang and the orchestra from the Shanghai Conservatory. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote: "Yingdi Sun (25), the soloist for Mozart's piano concerto appears to be a natural to dethrone his celebrated colleague Lang Lang – and he has the ability as well. His encore deeply moved the audience. He played Wagner in Liszt style: the Tannh？user paraphrase, which had nearly signified the end for Liszt during a performance in Rome after numerous interruptions”.
In 2007 it continued to be busy for Yingdi, as he played with the Tampere Philhamonic Orchestra (conducted by Muhai Tang) and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (with Edo de Waart). This was followed by a very well-received recital tour through Europe and the United States titled “Pure Gold”, with the First Prize winner of the 7th International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Augustin Hadelich from Germany. More recently Yingdi performed in the Shanghai Concert Hall with the Shanghai Opera Orchestra under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis and was invited back to Hong Kong to play with Edo de Waart and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Among concerts in 2008, Yingdi has given his debut performance in Wigmore Hall and also appeared on the important stage of the World Expo in Zaragoza in Spain. Furthermore, Yingdi has continued his cooperation with the China National Symphony Orchestra as well as other important Chinese Orchestras and his first commercial CD under the Brilliant Classic label has been released in January, 2009.
Since 2009 to now, Yingdi has been continuously busy with his career. He has appeared as soloist with Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and has been played in prestigious venues such as Musikverein Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich and the National Performance Arts Centre in Beijing. As a contemporary music lover, Yingdi also works closely with composers such as Tan Dun, Guo Wenjing and Jack Body.
More recently, Yingdi has established a piano trio with his firends violinist Siqing Lv and cellist Liwei Qin, they gave their debut performance at NPAC during the season 2011-2012 and will appear on the stage of the coming May Chamber Music Festival of NPAC.
The Shanghai-born Yingdi Sun was already winning prizes in his native China at an early age, including the Golden Bell Award at the Second National Piano Competition. In his own country, he was awarded the 'Bao Steel' Education Award and the Special Prize for Artists by the Shanghai government. With support from the Chinese Ministry of Culture and as part of the "Oriental Express Project" he went to New Zealand for a concert tour. In November 2005 he was the guest of the Chinese President HU Jintao as part of the festivities in honour of the visit of U.S. President George Bush to China. Yingdi Sun studied with Professor Sheng Yi-qi at the Conservatory of Music in Shanghai and has participated in the master classes of, amongst others, Philippe Entremont, Xu Zhong and Leslie Howard.
