05/03/2026
With rehearsal week fast approaching ahead of our Sunday 22 March Auckland Arts Festival performance - it is our great pleasure to introduce the third and final "Young & Brilliant" concerto soloist -
Shan Liu, 16, is a Year 12 pianist at Westlake Boys High School and one of New Zealand’s leading young classical musicians. He studies under acclaimed pianist Stephen De Pledge, whose mentorship has guided Shan to national and international success.
Shan has won major prizes worldwide, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Macao International Piano Competition, the Grand Gold Prize at the Pacific Rim International Music Competition, the Gold Award at the GOCAA New York International Music Competition, and First Place at both the César Franck International Piano Competition (Belgium) and the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians (The Netherlands).
In New Zealand, Shan became the youngest-ever winner of the Lewis Eady National Junior Piano Competition (2023) and has received the VAC Classical Music Award, the GOCAA Young Artist Award, and the AIMES Emerging Talent Award.
In 2024, he was the first New Zealand pianist invited to the fully funded Morningside Music Bridge Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
Shan has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra, Manukau Symphony Orchestra, and others. He became the youngest winner in the 57‑year history of the National Concerto Competition in 2025.
His performances have taken him to Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Auckland Town Hall, and to the Beethoven Orbit Festival in Aachen, Germany.
