Bruce Liu (born Xiaoyu Liu on May 8, 1997) is a Canadian pianist. Born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and raised in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, he began to play the piano at eight years old and was performing by the age of eleven. In 2021, he rose to widespread renown after winning the
XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition
The XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, XVIII Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 2 to 23 October 2021 in Warsaw. Originally scheduled for 2020, the quinquennial competition was twice postpone ...
.
Early life and education
Liu was born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to Chinese parents from
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. When he was six, he moved to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
with his father. He initially started piano studies on an electric keyboard but progressed to an
upright
Body relative directions (also known as egocentric coordinates) are geometrical orientations relative to a body such as a human person's.
The most common ones are: left and right; forward(s) and backward(s); up and down.
They form three pairs ...
once he became more serious. He graduated from the
Montreal Conservatory of Music
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
in the piano class of
Richard Raymond. He has since been studying with
Đặng Thái Sơn
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates ...
at the
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...
.
Career
2012-2021: Early career
At the age of fifteen, Liu performed with the
Cleveland Orchestra and
Jahja Ling
Jahja Ling () is a conductor, music director and pianist. From 2004 to 2017, he was the music director and conductor at the San Diego Symphony. Following his retirement in 2017, he plans to do guest conducting, as well as teaching and voluntee ...
at
Severance Hall
Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle section of Cleveland, Ohio. Opened in 1931, Severance Hall was named after patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance, and serves as the hom ...
. In the following years, he also collaborated with many leading ensembles such as the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra,
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the
Orchestra of the Americas
The Orchestra of the Americas (OA) is a Latin Grammy Award winning symphony orchestra of musical leaders, ages 18 to 30, representing more than 25 countries of the Western Hemisphere.
Leadership
The orchestra is guided by Artistic Advisor Plácido ...
. He also toured North America with the
NCPA Orchestra, and twice in China with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the
Lviv National Philharmonic
Lviv National Philharmonic named after Myroslav Skoryk is a philharmonic located in Lviv, Ukraine. The philharmonic received the status of a national one in 2017.
History
The Lviv Philharmonic began its work in 1902 on the premises of the former ...
respectively.
In 2012, Liu won the Grand Prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition. Recipient of the 2015
Prix d’Europe The Prix d'Europe is a Canadian study grant that is funded by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec of the Government of Quebec. Established in 1911, the award has been distributed annually to a single individual through competition wit ...
, he was awarded major prizes at the
Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition
The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition (also known simply as the Cooper International Competition) is a piano and violin competition held annually at the Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It is sponsored by Thomas and Evon Cooper and is ...
in 2012 and the
Sendai International Music Competition in 2016. He was also a finalist of the
Montreal International Music Competition
The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is an elite-level competition for classical musicians who are interested in pursuing an international career as a professional concert artist. Established in 2001 by the late André Bourbeau an ...
and the
Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
.
2021-present: Breakthrough and debut album
In 2021, Liu was named the winner of the
XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition
The XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, XVIII Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 2 to 23 October 2021 in Warsaw. Originally scheduled for 2020, the quinquennial competition was twice postpone ...
in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. He scored the highest marks in the first three stages and was the only competitor to be unanimously selected by the jury to progress from each round. He was also the clear audience favourite and received a prolonged standing ovation for his final round performance of
Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under
Andrey Boreyko
Andrey Boreyko (russian: Андре́й Ви́кторович Боре́йко, Andrey Viktorovich Boreyko, pl, Andrzej Borejko; born 22 July 1957) is a Polish-Russian conductor.
He has Polish ancestry on his father's side and Russian ancestry ...
.
Shortly after his success in Warsaw, Liu embarked on a world tour which included performances with the
NHK Symphony Orchestra
The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
History
The orchestra began as the ''New Symphony Orchestra'' o ...
,
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra,
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), is one of Poland's radio orchestra and premier musical institutions. It was founded in 1935 in Warsaw. In 1945 the orchestra was re-established in Katowice and since 2006 it has become a "Nati ...
,
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra ( lb, Lëtzebuerger philharmoneschen Orchester, french: Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg), abbreviated to OPL, is a symphony orchestra based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The orchestra formerly perfor ...
,
NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and the
Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira
The Brazilian Symphony Orchestra ( pt, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, OSB) is a Brazilian orchestra. Founded in 1940, it is located at Avenida Rio Branco, downtown Rio de Janeiro. It is one of the country's foremost orchestras, performing more ...
. In recital, he appeared at the
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Wiener Konzerthaus
The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...
,
BOZAR
The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...
in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Philharmonie Luxembourg
The Philharmonie Luxembourg, also known officially as the Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall (french: Salle de concerts grande-duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte, german: Konzertsaal Großherzogin Joséphine-Charlotte), is a concert hal ...
,
Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall,
Sala São Paulo
The Júlio Prestes Cultural Center, which is located in the Júlio Prestes Train Station in the old north central section of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, was inaugurated on July 9, 1999. The building has been restored and renovated by the Sã ...
and
The Orpheum in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. Replacing
Nobuyuki Tsujii
(also known as Nobu Tsujii) is a Japanese pianist and composer. He was born blind due to microphthalmia. Tsujii performs extensively, with a large number of conductors and orchestras, and has received critical acclaims as well as notices for h ...
, he made his
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
debut performing
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...
at
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...
. He also returned to the
National Philharmonic in Warsaw on
Frédéric Chopin’s birthdate for two sold-out recitals, which he dedicated to the victims of the
armed conflict in Ukraine.
On
World Piano Day in 2022, Liu signed an exclusive contract with
Deutsche Grammophon. Months prior, the label released a live album of his winning performances from the International Chopin Piano Competition. The album was critically acclaimed and received praise from publications such as
BBC Music Magazine
''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music.
History
The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toget ...
and
Gramophone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
. For the latter, it was included in its list of best classical albums from 2021 and was described as “one of the most distinguished Chopin recitals of recent years, full of maturity, character and purpose.”
Personal life
Liu can speak fluent
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
.
Discography
Awards
* 2012:
Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition
The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition (also known simply as the Cooper International Competition) is a piano and violin competition held annually at the Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It is sponsored by Thomas and Evon Cooper and is ...
- Second Prize
* 2012:
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition - Grand Prize
* 2015:
Prix d’Europe The Prix d'Europe is a Canadian study grant that is funded by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec of the Government of Quebec. Established in 1911, the award has been distributed annually to a single individual through competition wit ...
- Winner
* 2016:
Sendai International Music Competition - Fourth Prize and Audience Prize
* 2021:
International Chopin Piano Competition - First Prize
References
External links
Official websiteBruce Liu - Liu Kotow International Management & Promotion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Bruce (Xiaoyu)
1997 births
Living people
21st-century Canadian pianists
Canadian classical pianists
International Chopin Piano Competition winners
21st-century classical pianists
Music & Arts artists
Canadian musicians of Chinese descent
Canadian male pianists