JingCi Liu

JINGCI LIU, piano 
Pianist JingCi Liu, a native of Tianjin, China. Most recently, she won the 2nd Prize and the Special Award-Best Romantic Performance at the 2022 Spotlight International Piano competition. She also received First Places in the 2021 New York Classical International Music Competition (Grand Prize in 20-27yrs division), 2021 Medici International Music Competition (Grand Prize), Chopin Malaysia International Competition, 2021 Global Outstanding Chinese Artist International Piano Competition (2021), Gold Prize of the WPTA Second Finland International Piano Competition (Piano Solo & Piano Duo Division, 2020), Second Place of 2021 William Knabe International Piano Competition, Fifth Place in the 2020 Conero International Piano Competition. She received the First Prize in the Young Artist, Advanced Baroque, and Advanced Beethoven Categories in the “23rd American International Music Open Competition” in Oakland, California, in 2015. Meanwhile, she received one of seven National Outstanding Artist Awards at the winner’s award ceremony.  

Ms. Liu has been featured multiple times as a soloist and chamber musician at the 2020- 2023 UConn Piano Day-Master Class and Concert Series, curated by Dr. Angelina Gadeliya at the University of Connecticut. She appeared as a 2021-2022 GOCAA Artist at the Global Outstanding Chinese Artist Association Solo Recitals on Sino TV and gave virtual lectures/recitals in U.S.A and China. Most recently, she presented the piano solo and duo with her husband Wenting Yu at the opening concert of 2022 GOCAA Artist Concert Tours in New York and was highly appraised for her “sensitive” and “energetic” playing. In the summer of 2020, Ms. Liu was selected as one of the eight promising featured pianists for the festival of Fontainebleau Schools (Conservatoire américain de Fontainebleau) with a full scholarship and stipend in Fontainebleau, France. In May 2019, Ms. Liu was invited by the Chinese Consul General Amb. Huang Ping and his wife Mme. Zhang Aiping to perform a piano Duo/ Solo concert at the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York City.  

Besides, Ms. Liu won the first prize in both Young Artist and Senior Piano Duo Divisions of the Golden Classical Music Award Competition in November 2018. Meanwhile, she has been invited to perform the winner’s recital in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as her Solo and Duo Carnegie debut in October and November 2018. In addition to December 2018, Ms. Liu appeared again at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at the Closing Ceremony of “the 2018 Mannes Sounds Festival” as a featured artist. This season, Ms. Liu has performed throughout premier venues in New York City as a featured pianist at the Mannes Sounds Festival and Mannes Piano Cantabile concert series. Including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, The Frick Collection, National Opera Center, Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, German Consulate General in New York, Bohemian National Hall, Metropolitan Club, House of Redeemer in New York City and many others. Also, Ms. Liu is the resident artist at the concert series of Young Musician Forum in Schenectady and Classical Music at the American Yacht Club in New York.  

Besides winning awards and giving performances in different countries, Ms. Liu has also been admitted to music festivals internationally such as the “21st International Keyboard Institute & Festival” in New York, 2019, “Miami International Music Festival” in 2018, “Beijing International Music Festival and Academy” in 2017, the “Eastern Music Festival” in 2016, the “Mostly American Music Festival” in Lancaster, Ohio in 2014, performing with All-State Orchestra at the OHIO Columbus Conventional Art Center in 2015 and the “NOW Festival” in 2013. Besides, Ms. Liu leads the concert series for Youth at the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York City. Ms. At the same time, Liu has been selected to perform in the Masterclasses for Eteri Andjaparidze, Yoshie Akimoto, Malcolm Bilson, Angela Cheng, Jerome Lowenthal, Michael Lewin, Marc Silverman, Douglas Humphreys, Murray McLachlan, Boaz Sharon, Nelita True, Christopher Fischer, Charles Dimaras, Danwen Wei, Fang Zhang, Robert Shanon, Inessa Zaretsky, etc.  

Ms. Liu holds both a Professional Studies Diploma (PDPL) and Master of Music Degrees from the Mannes School of Music of The New School, where she was under the guidance of Bulgarian-American pianist Pavlina Dokovska and Serbian/American concert pianist and pedagogue, Dr. Vladimir Valjarevic. Ms. Liu was the recipient of the President’s Scholarship, Supplemental Scholarship for Graduate Students, and Schoenberg Pianist Scholarship. Upon her graduation from Mannes, she received the Steinway Award from the Piano Department and Steinway and Sons New York which is given to an outstanding pianist in the graduate program.  

Ms. Liu is currently pursuing a DMA degree in piano performance at the University of Connecticut, studying with Dr. Angelina Gadeliya. She is the recipient of a Full Scholarship and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Connecticut. From 2020-2022, she has been awarded pre-doctoral fellowships from the Music Department of the University of Connecticut and received awards from the Evelyn Bonar Storrs Scholarship Fund of the Musical Club of Hartford, Connecticut. In 2021, Ms. Liu joined as a visiting piano teacher and piano pedagogy fellow member at Global Outstanding Chinese Artist Association. At the same time, she serves as an Artist-in-Residence and regional Co-Executive Director in New York. Also, Ms. Liu has been appointed as one of the guest artists and youth piano juries at the 1st Manhaville International Piano Competition and Festival in New York, in which she presented virtual lectures and concerts about “The Art of Collaboration in Piano Duo” with her piano duo partner and husband Mr. Wenting Yu. She is an international jury at Music Star Award International Music Competition in Europe since 2020. Currently, she teaches and lives in New York City with her husband. Her first solo recording project features seven female composers through the last two centuries, which includes many important and rarely heard works from the periods of Classical, Romantic, Twentieth, and Twenty-First Century. 

“JingCi kept growing as a pianist and artist and her performances have always been enthusiastically received by the audience.”  – Mme. Pavlina Dokovska, Steinway Artist, Chair of Piano Department at Mannes School of Music 

“JingCi’s artistry is truly original, and her performances demonstrate pianistic brilliance, great musical intensity, superb sensitivity, and a thorough understanding of various styles.”  – Dr. Angelina Gadeliya, Assistant Professor in Residence of Piano, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at the University of Connecticut 

“Ms. Liu revealed sensitive shading overall…clearly revels in a large range of sonorities…creates a cohesive and compelling performance that is hard to resist…”  – Dr. Rorianne Schrade, Steinway Artist-New York Concert Review