Sandra Shen 05.01.18

Steinway Artist, Sandra Wright Shen has been described as a classical “pianist of the first order” and a “heartstopping beauty”. With her passion, musicality, and inspiration, she aims to move hearts through music. Sandra has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in 14 countries and throughout US, at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Music Center in DC, the Chicago Cultural Center, Monte Carlo Opera House, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Frankfurt Cultural Center in Germany, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Taiwan National Concert Hall, Korea Seoul Arts Center, Hong Kong City Hall, Granada Intl Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Masterworks Music Festival. As a guest artist, she has appeared with Charleston Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, Redlands Symphony, Brevard Festival Sinfonia, New Millennium Orchestra, Greater San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Formosa Philharmonic Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Taipei Symphony and others. She has played chamber concerts with Vesselin Paraschkevov, former concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and with Amos Yang, Assistant Principal Cello of San Francisco Symphony. She has also performed on tour in Asia with cellist Nina Kotova. Shen has won first prizes in several major piano competitions, including the 2012 France International Piano Competition, 1997 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the 1996 Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition, and the 1990Taiwan National Piano Competition. She also garnered second prize in the Peabody Russell Wunderlich Piano Competition and won the Peabody Frances M. Wentz Memorial Prize in Piano. Shen’s recordings include her debut CD featuring Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, recorded live, and the Saint-Saëns “Carnival of the Animals”, both released on the Taiwan Rolling Stone Music label. As an educator, Shen is on the piano faculty at the Brevard Music Festival, Masterworks Music Festival, and Steinway Society Summer Music camp. She also previously served as piano faculty at Southern Illinois University. She has also been invited to give master classes at University of Colorado Boulder, Furman University, Converse College, Missouri Baptist University, Eastern Tennessee University, Georgia Tech University, Zhejiang Normal University and Soochow University. She has also brought classical music into schools in South Carolina, Mississippi, Atlanta, and California. Sandra performed live for WCQS radio station in Asheville, filmed a 4-part series titled “The Movements of the Master Pianists” for Hong Kong TV, “Inspiration From Above” for US Creation TV and featured in an interview by Good TV in Taiwan.

She also hosted a classical music program on Taiwan IC broadcast radio station FM97.5. Mixing music and philanthropy, Sandra has played benefit concerts for disaster victims, foster children, and music education for underprivileged children. She is Honorary Advisor for Young Music Foundation and board member for Inspiring Foundation of Arts and Culture in Taiwan. Sandra was born in Taiwan and continued her musical studies in the United States. She received her Bachelor of Music in 1994 with a piano performance major and organ minor from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with legendary pianist, Ann Schein and organist Donald Sutherland. Two years later, she completed her Master of Music in piano performance and also served as an Ear-Training graduate teaching assistant. She performed in Master Classes with Jerome Lowenthal, Andre Watts, Lev Nauomov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Madame Ruth Slencynska, Rebecca Penneys, Oleg Barsov and studied chamber music with Earl Carlyss, member of the Juilliard String Quartet. Shen’s passion for chamber music took her to Germany and Austria during the summers from 1995-98, where she worked under the direction of the Alban Berg Quartet. And Jörg Demus, and one summer with Grant Johannessen at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Asheville Art Museum Series, Review 2015 “Sandra won first prize (Hilton Head Int’ Piano Competition), but much more importantly, she gave movingly poetic interpretations of varied repertoire from Bach to Beethoven to Chopin to Rachmaninoff. Sandra Wright is a dazzling pianist with a superb technique and a marvelous tone. She is a very intelligent musician and a thrilling performer.