Stephanie Shih-yu Cheng, Piano

Biography

Stephanie Shih-yu Cheng has performed extensively in the U.S., France, Italy, Japan, and Taiwan to great critical acclaim.  Her solo and collaborative engagements have brought her to many of the world’s major music centers, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, Opera City Hall of Tokyo, National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Kravis Center in Florida, and National Concert Hall of Taipei.  She has distinguished herself in several international competitions, including first prizes in the IBLA Grand Prize Competition in Italy, Kingsville International Competition, and Association of Pianists and Piano Teachers of America International Piano Competition.  She was the recipient of Prix-Ville de Fontainebleau in France, which was personally presented to her by Philippe Entremont.  Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Martin Bernheimer wrote that she plays “eloquently and elegantly…(with) passion and introspection…sensitivity and a finely honed sense of style” and the Courier-Post hailed her performance with the Haddonfield Symphony as “fearless, with a graceful ease that belied the technical difficulties in Prokofiev.”

Recent appearances include recitals at the Coastal Carolina University, Humboldt State University, New York University, University of Arkansas, University of Illinois, SUNY Potsdam, and Youngstown State University, as well as solo engagements with the SUNY Stony Brook Symphony under Leon Fleisher, Brampton Symphony Orchestra and Oakville Chamber Orchestra in Toronto.  Ms. Cheng frequently appears in recitals with pianist Sara Davis Buechner, including a recent collaboration at Bargemusic in New York.  She has been featured on National Public Radio, WFMT in Chicago, Chicago Loop Cable Channel 25, KUHF in Houston, Radio Video Mediterraneo in Italy, Living & Travel Section of msnbc.com, and Nippon Television in Japan.

Ms. Cheng’s principal teachers have been Ann Schein and Gilbert Kalish.  She was a teaching assistant for Earl Carlyss at the Peabody Conservatory where she received the coveted Rose Marie Milholland Award in Piano.  Ms. Cheng received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  Much sought-after for master classes and as an adjudicator, she is on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music Precollege and City College of New York.  Further information and musical offerings are available on www.stephanie-cheng.com.  Ms. Cheng is a Steinway Artist.  In her spare time she enjoys recreational tennis and is an avid scuba diver.