Ching-Yun "Charlotte" Hu () is a Taiwanese-born American classical pianist. She won the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and the 2012

Golden Melody Award The Golden Melody Awards (), commonly abbreviated as GMA, is an honor awarded by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and Formosan-languages popular and traditional music in ...

for Best Classical Album. She founded Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Early life

Hu was born in Taipei. She made her concerto debut at the age of 13 with the Poland Capella Cracoviensis Chamber Orchestra. At the age of 14, she moved to the United States to study at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division. In 1998, at age 16, Hu won the Silver Medal at the Taipei International Piano Competition as the youngest competitor. She would go on to earn her Bachelor's and master's degrees from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, studying with Herbert Stessin and

Oxana Yablonskaya Oxana Yablonskaya (; born December 6, 1938) is a Soviet, American, and Israeli pianist who has had an active international performance career since the early 1960s. She began her career in the USSR and, although winning several important compet ...

. She later studied with

Sergei Babayan Sergei Babayan (; born 1 January 1961) is an Armenian-American pianist. Described by ''Le Devoir'' as a "genius", Babayan won many international competitions, including the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in 1989 and the Hamamat ...

at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and with

Karl-Heinz Kämmerling Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (6 May 1930 – 14 June 2012) was a notable German academic teacher of classical pianists, who trained pianists at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover for careers as performer ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating to , it has reorganised and changed names as it developed over the years, ...

, Germany.

Career

In 1996, Charlotte Hu moved to the United States to attend The Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. She attended the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...

in the following year and won the Aspen Concerto Competition, performing the Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 with the Aspen Concert Orchestra. The same season, she won the Philadelphia Orchestra Greenfield Competition, which resulted in her debut with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

, where she performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in a sold concert. She debuted in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1999 at the Chopin International Music Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and gave a recital at the Kleine Zaal of

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 2000. She made her recital debut at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in 2007, and subsequently returned in 2009. In 2008, Charlotte Hu won the top prize of the 12th Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, playing with the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

in the Semi-Final and Final. She was also awarded the Audience Favorite Prize. A week after the completion of the competition, she stepped in for

Helene Grimaud Helene or Hélène may refer to: People * Helene (name), and Hélène, a female given name, including a list of people with the name * Hélène (singer) (Hélène Rollès, born 1966), French actress and singer * Helen of Troy, a figure in Greek ...

in Beethoven Concerto No. 1 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, In the two seasons after winning the Rubinstein Competition, she debuted at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London, Klavier-Ruhr Festival, Herkulesaal in Munich, Tel Aviv Opera House, Salle Cortet in Paris, Rubinstein Hall in Lódz Poland, and at the Great Hall of Liszt Academy in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, an invitation from conductor and pianist Tamas Vasary. She was a soloist with the Israel Symphony Orchestra,

Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) is Johannesburg's leading Philharmonic Orchestra. The chair of the Board of Directors is Mr Justice Dikgang Moseneke, and the CEO and Artistic Director is Bongani Tembe. Tembe was appointed in 2015. ...

, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. Following the Rubinstein Competition, Charlotte Hu won the 2009 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York, and signed a contract under CAG Artist Management. In the following seasons, she performed in many prestigious concert series in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and abroad, including her debut at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

's Weill's Recital Hall, her orchestra debut in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, across Europe at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, UK and Munich's Gasteig, and gave a ten-concert tour of South Africa. Throughout her career, Hu has been supported by the

Puffin Foundation The Puffin Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of minorities who may be underrepresented due to their race, gender, social philosophy, etc. The foundation achieves this mission of foster ...

in United States, Chi-Mei Foundation in Taiwan, Solti Foundation in Belgium, Hattori Foundation in London, and the Education and Cultural Committees in Taiwan. A tireless advocate for music education, Charlotte raised US$27,000 for youth education charities through a Hope Charity Concert live-streamed on her Facebook page in June 2020. The all-Liszt program, featuring some of the composer’s most moving transcriptions of German lieder, reached more than 140,000 people across the globe.
Steinway Artist
Charlotte serves as artist in residence and piano faculty a
Temple University
in Philadelphia, in addition to her busy schedule leading master classes and artist residencies at universities and music festivals worldwide.

Golden Melody Awards

Charlotte Hu released her debut album " Chopin" under Taiwanese label ArchiMusic in April, 2011. The album was nominated for two Golden Melodies in 2012 for "Best Performance" and "Best Classical Album of the Year. It won the Golden Melody "Best Classical Album of the Year."

Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival

Enthusiastic in promoting Taiwanese musicians, music and helping young artists from her country, in 2011, Charlotte Hu founded the Yun-Hsiang Foundation and Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival in 2011. The first festival was held in Taipei in November, 2012. The Festival hosts 16 masterclasses by the festival artists, the Yun-Hsiang Concerto Competition, four concerts of solo and concerto programs at the

National Theater and Concert Hall, Taipei The National Theater Hall ( zh, t=國家戲劇院 , poj=Kok-ka Hì-kio̍k-īⁿ , p=Guójiā Xìjù Yuàn) and National Concert Hall ( zh, t=國家音樂廳 , p=Guójiā Yīnyuè Tīng, poj=Kok-ka Im-ga̍k-thiaⁿ, labels=yes), or together t ...

. The artist roster of the 2012 Festival includes pianist

, violinists Grzegorz Kotow, Daniel Shien-Ta Su, cellists

Adrian Brendel Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

, Ouyang YiLing, conductor James P. Liu of the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the

Evergreen Symphony Orchestra The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (ESO; ) is a Taiwanese orchestra founded by the of Evergreen Group in 2001. The orchestra is featured by bringing up talented Taiwanese players and promoting Taiwanese folk music. Two of the many performances of ...

, in addition to performances by Hu.

Philadelphia Young Pianists' Academy (PYPA)

Charlotte Hu founded th
Philadelphia Young Pianists’ Academy (PYPA)
in 2013. Now in its 12th year in 2024, PYPA has become an important fixture in the classical music world, providing opportunities for young pianists to achieve their dreams of becoming professional musicians while cultivating a deeper appreciation for classical music and serving as a bridge of cultural partnerships between West and East. PYPA has presented over one-hundred-fifty concerts in person and online, and over one thousand hours of masterclasses by world-renowned musicians at th
Curtis Institute of MusicAcademy of Vocal Arts
an
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Awards and recognitions

* 1998 Silver Medal & Most Potential Pianist Award - Taipei International Piano Competition * 1999 Silver Medal - Chopin International Piano Competition of Taipei * 1999 Young Artist Award - Chi-Mei Music & Art Foundation, Taiwan * 2001 Rising Star Award - National Cultural Committee & Chiang Kai-Shek Concert Halls, Taiwan * 2001 1st Prize - Puigcerda International Piano Competition, Spain * 2003 Gold Medal and 1st Prize - California International Piano Competition, California * 2005 1st Prize - Seiler International Piano Competition - Artist Division, New York * 2006 1st Prize - Olga Koussetvitsky International Piano Competition, New York * 2007 Gold Medal & First Prize - World Piano Competition, Ohio * 2008 Silver Medal & Audience Favorite Prize (no first prize awarded) - Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Israel * 2008 Honorary Award - Taiwan National Cultural Ministry, Taiwan * 2009 Winner - Concert Artists Guild International Competition, New York * 2012 Golden Melody - Best Classical Album, Taiwan

Discography

An active recording artist, her debut album of Chopin works on ArchiMusic was named Best Classical Album of the Year by Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Melody Award, and recordings released on Naxos/CAG Records an
BMOP/sound with Boston Modern Orchestra Project
have received overwhelming critical acclaim. Her Rachmaninoff album on Centaur/Naxos received a five-star review by the U.K.’
''Pianist'' magazine
which called it “essential listening for Rachmaninoff admirers.” Her upcoming album, ''Liszt Metamorphosis'', released by PENTATONE, will be available worldwide on July 19, 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Charlotte Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Musicians from Taipei Taiwanese expatriates in the United States 21st-century Taiwanese classical pianists Taiwanese women pianists Juilliard School alumni Women classical pianists