About Hsing-ay Hsu
Steinway Artist Hsing-ay Hsu (“Sing-I Shoo”) joyfully shares the power of classical piano music to bring multi-dimensional awareness and to weave a rich cultural fabric. Ms. Hsu empowers lifelong learners to find inspirational “pathways forward” through the music she performs. She synthesizes her performance expertise with an approachable and disarming personality to demonstrate the relevance of classical music with a contemporary mindset, stressing that creativity is essential to living life fully.
Since her stage debut at age 4, Chinese-American pianist Hsing-ay Hsu (“Sing-I Shoo”) has been performing at such venues as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, in Europe and Asia, and at festivals including the International Odyssiad Festival and the Gulangyu Int'l Piano Festival in China. Her thoughtful and passionate interpretations have won international recognition, including the William Petschek Debut Award at Juilliard (highest honor given to a pianist), William Kapell Int'l Competition, Ima Hogg Nat'l First-Prize, Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the US Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award from President Clinton. Her concerto collaborations include the Baltimore Symphony and the Houston Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Hsu loves to make connections between disciplines and foster curiosity in her audiences, and creates many themed recitals such as “China through the Lens of Piano Music” and “Climate Keys” (in collaboration with the U.K. based organization). Her recordings are frequently broadcast on CPR, and her favorite venues include the former Castello Di Galeazza in Italy.
Ms. Hsu has also become a multi-faceted cultural collaborator in the Denver-Boulder corridor. She feels privileged to serve as a consultant for numerous organizations, students, and piano teachers. As former Artistic Director for Pendulum New Music at the University of Colorado-Boulder for fourteen seasons, she brought in international artists to the region from Finland, Mexico, the U.K., and facilitated celebrity masterclasses including Kronos and Béla Fleck in collaboration with CU Presents and Newman Center Presents. An advocate for new music since commissioning her first piece while in college, she has premiered numerous works including pieces by Ned Rorem and Ezra Laderman, as well as works written for her by Daniel Kellogg, Leanna Kirchoff, Kevin Olson, and Clay Allen.
Expanding her role as an educator, Ms. Hsu created Conscious ListeningTM seminars to encourage more in-depth listening experience for various festivals and concert series such as CU Presents, Colorado Music Festival, and Friends of Chamber Music Denver, and every summer for Rocky Ridge Adult Seminars, Chautauqua Institute (NY), and the International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival (CO). A visiting piano faculty for several universities including CU-Boulder and Ohio University, she thrives on developing long and deep relationships with her students of all ages, many of whom have won solo and concerto prizes. Her international masterclass venues include Conservatoire Ravel in Paris and Xiamen University, and she adjudicates regularly for national and international competitions. Besides chairing the CSMTA College Faculty Forum, she served on the national editorial board of American Music Teacher magazine, and has lectured at conferences including the recent “Rhythm Since 1900 Conference” at CU and the MTNA National Convention in San Antonio, TX.
Ms. Hsu is married to composer Daniel Kellogg, who is the new president of Young Concert Artists, and they have one amazing daughter.Born in Beijing, Ms. Hsu trained at the Juilliard School and Yale University, as well as Aspen, Ravinia Steans Institute, the Aldeburgh Festival in the U.K., Tanglewood, with her uncle Fei-Ping Hsu, and continues to learn from all the diverse artists around her. She loves to travel with her family and take dance classes. Her silliest moments include performing with a local improv theater group and trying not to fall off the MontrealVoiles en Voilespirate ropes course.
Blog, newsletters, videos, concert schedule, coaching info, and personal stories are at hsingayhsu.com.
