Eric Lu (born December 15, 1997) is an American classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Hailed by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as a pianist with "the magic touch of...

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia () (born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. Kno ...

and

Radu Lupu Radu Lupu (30 November 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a Romanian pianist. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teach ...

", he won the gold medal at the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess ...

in 2018 at age 20. He records for

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records, Teldec Records and NVC Arts labels. Based in France, W ...

under an exclusive contract, and has performed with many of the world's major orchestras including the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestra ...

, and Orchestre national de Lille; upcoming debuts include appearances as soloist with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Early life and education

Eric Lu was born on December 15, 1997, in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

to a father from

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and a mother from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He grew up in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...

, and started piano studies at age six with Dorothy Shi () in the Boston area. Later on, he enrolled at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, where he studied with Alexander Korsantia and A. Ramon Rivera. In 2013, he was admitted into the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

in Philadelphia, where he studied with

Jonathan Biss Jonathan Biss (born September 18, 1980) is an American pianist, teacher, and writer based in Philadelphia. He is the co-artistic director (with Mitsuko Uchida) of the Marlboro Music Festival. Early life and education Biss was born into a famil ...

and Robert McDonald. He is also a pupil of

Dang Thai Son Dang may refer to: Music * "Dang!" (song), a 2015 song by Mac Miller from ''The Divine Feminine'' * "Dang!", a 2018 song by GreatGuys from ''Trigger'' People * Dang (surname) with origins in both Asiatic and Indo-European languages * Dang, a ...

Career

In October 2015, Lu won the 4th prize at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland at the age of 17, becoming one of the youngest laureates in the history of the competition. Shortly afterwards, he performed his debut at the 70th International Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Poland. He went on a tour of Japan and Korea with the Warsaw Philharmonic along with the other prizewinners of the competition in January 2016. In 2017, Lu won the

International German Piano Award The International German Piano Award is a yearly international music competition for classical piano music since 2011. The International Piano Forum is the initiator and organizer of the competition. The prize money amounts to a total of 20,000 eu ...

in Frankfurt. He also won the audience prize. In 2018, at age 20, Lu won the First Prize and gold medal at the

. He was the first American pianist to do so since Murray Perahia. He played Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in the finals with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. After winning, he was immediately signed by Askonas Holt and

. His first concert after winning Leeds was a debut with the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

and

Vasily Petrenko Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko (russian: Васи́лий Эдуа́рдович Петре́нко; born 7 July 1976) is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, music director of the Roy ...

. Subsequent notable debuts have included recitals at

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

Amsterdam Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...

Louis Vuitton Foundation The Louis Vuitton Foundation ( French: ''Fondation d'entreprise Louis-Vuitton''), previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (''Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création''), is a French art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group L ...

in Paris,

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia Saint Petersburg Philharmonia (), officially the Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After D. D. Shostakovich (), is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is housed. Also there is ...

, and

Shanghai Grand Theatre The Shanghai Grand Theater () is a complex located at the intersection of Central Boulevard and Huangpi Road South in the northern part of the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. The building houses the Shanghai Opera House a ...

. His UK recital debut in Bristol was praised by

: 'Lu seems already to possess something of the magic touch of early Leeds laureates Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu'. In June 2019, Lu replaced

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and education Argerich was born in Buenos Ai ...

in a concert with the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs about ...

. Lu made his debut at the 2019 BBC Proms at London's

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

with the

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra () is a symphony orchestra in Shanghai, China. Its music director is Yu Long. Founded in 1879, the SSO is the oldest Chinese symphony orchestra. Originally, it was known as the Shanghai Public Band, expanding in 1 ...

and

Yu Long Yu Long (; pinyin: Yú Lóng; born July 1, 1964) is a Chinese conductor. He is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic and of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra ...

Awards

* 2010 - XII Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists (Germany) - 1st Prize * 2013 - III Minnesota International e-Piano Junior Competition - 1st Prize, and Schubert Prize * 2014 - IX Moscow International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists - 1st Prize * 2015 - IX US National Chopin Competition - 1st Prize, and prize for best performance of a Concerto * 2015 - XVII International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland - 4th Prize * 2017
VII International German Piano Award
Frankfurt, Germany - 1st Prize and FAZ-Audience-Award * 2018 -

- 1st Prize, Terence Judd–Hallé Orchestra Prize

References

External links

Polskie Radio- Eric Lu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Eric American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists 1997 births Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition American people of Chinese descent American people of Taiwanese descent 21st-century classical pianists Curtis Institute of Music alumni Living people 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians