As an international recitalist, Wenting Shi has been giving concerts in many countries around the world
She is the prize winner of prestigious competitions
Her educational background includes The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Universität der Künste Berlin, and Northwestern University.
Pianist Wenting Shi has received prestigious awards and accolades throughout her career. In April 2023, she received the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship Award in the USA, becoming a 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.
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), and both chamber and solo prizes at the Virtuoso & Belcanto International Competition (Italy 2018), the San Jose International Piano Competition (USA 2016), the International Toronto Piano Competition (Canada 2015), and the 12th International Piano Competition by Taipei Chopin Foundation (Chinese Taipei 2008). In addition, she has performed concertos and solo recitals presented by various foundations, and notably, she clinched the grand prize at the 13th Bucharest International Piano Competition (Romania 2006).
Wenting made her orchestral debut by 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 under the baton of Maestro Ignat Solzhenitsyn.
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 Oxford International Music Festival in the UK, the Aspen Music Festival in the US, the Salzburg Mozart International Music Festival in Austria, the ISA International Music Festival in Austria, the Bonn Beethoven Music Festical, and the Lucca International Music Festival in Italy among others. Additionally, Wenting has served as a judge for the Pearl River · Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition in 2021 and 2023, contributed to a commemorative album for the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and ORF Radio Symphony Hall in 2021, and presented the world premiere of composer Minduo Li's 'Fantasia 1975,' which was featured in 'Piano Artistry' magazine in January 2018. She has also conducted regular solo concert tours across China, combining teaching, classical music promotion, and art outreach activities in cities such as Shanghai, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou.
Wenting's musical journey began at the tender 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, gaining admission to the Affiliated School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she studied under the guidance of Professors Zijie Wu, Xiao Luo, and Min-duo Li, beginning her professional music studies at the age of 8. 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, Wenting embarked on her academic journey at The Juilliard School in New York City in 2011, where she was granted a full scholarship under the tutelage of Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. In 2015, she graduated with a Bachelor's degree, honored the Arthur Rubinstein Prize for Academic and Artistic Achievements. She continued her studies at Juilliard with Dr. Kaplinsky, obtaining her Master's degree in 2017. Subsequently, Wenting pursued her studies at the Yale School of Music, also on a full-ride scholarship, with Prof. Boris Berman, earning a Master's degree in Musical Arts 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, the highest educational level in performance in Germany, at the Berlin University of the Arts, under the guidance of Prof. Markus Groh. Moreover, in April 2022, she was awarded a full-ride scholarship to pursue a Doctoral 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, and a multitude of scholarships from institutions such as The Juilliard School and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, including 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 Scholarship.