SHENG CAI

MEXICO AND LATIN AMERICA

 

Recently described by the Thüringer Allgemeine in Germany as "having the inner passion matched with the nonchalance of Rubinstein," Canadian pianist Sheng Cai has embraced the keyboard tradition that epitomizes the greatness of the romantic virtuoso. His performances of the major keyboard works of the last few centuries have moved audiences and garnered critical acclaim on four continents. The Toronto Star newspaper said: "This is a young man with real talent... from a clear, singing tone to a subtle sense of rubato and a judicious choice of tempi."

Described as a pianist "with great confidence...he gave more lucidity, color and power" by the Birmingham News, Sheng Cai has been honored with a host of awards and accolades and continues to push the boundaries in performance of both the established and the new. the oddities of piano literature.

Since making his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at just fifteen years old, Sheng Cai has performed a wide spectrum of Concerto repertoire, from Mozart to 21st century composers, with invitations to dozens of orchestras around the world as a guest soloist. His recent appearances include invitations to perform with the Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec, Windsor, Canton (Ohio), Fort Collins, New Bedford, Irving (Texas) Symphonies, the Calgary Philharmonic, and in China with the Shanghai and Shanghai Symphonies. Shenzhen, in Germany with the Erfurt Philharmonic, the Thuringia Gotha-Eisenach Philharmonic, the Krakow Philharmonic in Poland, the Czech Philharmonic, the Jalisco Philharmonic and the Boca del Rio Philharmonic in Mexico, the Bogotá Philharmonic in Colombia, among many others. .

In Canada, Sheng Cai has performed with numerous regional orchestras in the United States and Canada from coast to coast, including the Kingston, Kamloops, Folsom Lake Orchestras, and the Montana Glacier Symphony. He has recently worked with a long list of directors such as Keith Lockhart, Yoav Talmi, David Lockington, Robert Moody, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Myron Michailidis, Donato Cabrera, Robert Franz, Dina Gilbert, Guoyong Zhang, Marco Parisotto and Eckart Preu.

In solo recitals, Sheng Cai has been heard in many prestigious venues across North America, including New York's Steinway Hall, Boston's Jordan Hall, Chicago's International Music Center, Cleveland Play House, the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth, the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, the CBC's Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto and other distinguished venues in Stratford, Elora, Montreal and Winnipeg. In China, he opened the Ningbo Concert Hall, offering both recitals and concerts. As a chamber musician, Sheng Cai has collaborated with several renowned artists, such as the Enso String Quartet. Many of his performances have been broadcast throughout North America on CBC Radio Canada and WCLV radio station in the United States.

Sheng Cai is a passionate recording artist; his first recording was a CD with works by Mozart and Martinů for the Canadian Broadcast Company. His most recent CD releases of works by Schumann and Liszt on the ATMA classique label garnered international recognition from the American Record Guide, The International Music Web Review in the UK, Wholenote Magazine in Canada, and Fanfare Music Magazine in the US.

He was the winner of First Places in many competitions during his adolescence, such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition (Concours OSM), the Piano Competition promoted by the Toronto Symphony, the International Competition of Young Artists of Colorado, the State of the Bahia in Boston, and was the youngest finalist and special prize winner at the Bösendorfer International Piano Competition in the United States.

Sheng Cai is essential in defending many forgotten works that are pinnacles of piano literature. Works by composers such as Enescu, Kabalevsky, Kapustin, Mathieu, Medtner, Morawetz, Villa-Lobos, and several of his own works frequently appear at his concerts. His creative programming has made the public aware of such treasures of piano literature that deserve to be widely heard.

Sheng Cai began his studies in Canada and the United States, where he was a student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and the pre-university division of the Juilliard School in New York. He received his Bachelor of Music on a full scholarship at the New England Conservatory in Boston. His teachers and mentors include pianists Anton Kuerti, Gary Graffman, and Russell Sherman.