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Claire Huangci (born March 22, 1990) is an American classical pianist. She lives in
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...
.


Early life

Huangci () was born in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...
to Chinese immigrant parents, both scientists. Claire started playing piano at the age of six. Until she was 11 years old, Huangci studied with pianist Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind at the
Settlement Music School Settlement Music School is a community music school with branches in and around Philadelphia. Founded in 1908 by two young women, Jeannette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn, it is the largest community school of the arts in the United States. It ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Aged 8, she won a gold medal at the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, being the youngest medalist in the pre-college division to perform with an orchestra at the prize winners’ concert of the International division.


Education

Huangci was supported with scholarships from DAAD and the
Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben The Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben is a foundation whose purpose is the promotion of musical excellence in Germany. The organisation was founded in 1962 by Hans Sikorski and Wolfgang Essen and is based in Hamburg. The patron of the Foundation is Pr ...
for two years. Having completed four years of study at 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. ...
from 2003 to 2007 where she studied together with notable pianists such as
Yuja Wang Yuja Wang (; born February 10, 1987) is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Phil ...
under
Gary Graffman Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator. Early life Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of M ...
, she continued her musical education in Germany at the
Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...
with Professor
Arie Vardi Arie Vardi ( he, אריה ורדי; born 1937) is a classical pianist, conductor, and piano pedagogue. He is laureate of the Israel Prize in 2017. Biography Vardi was born in Tel Aviv and graduated from the Rubin Academy (renamed the Buchmann-Me ...
from 2007 to 2016.


Career

Huangci won First Prize in the 2009 Europäischer Chopin Klavierwettbewerb in Darmstadt and the Orpheum Music Prize in Zurich; the First and Special Prize at the 2010 National Chopin Competition in Miami, Florida, USA, and the Second Prize at the 2011
ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition (german: link=no, Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and held once a year in Munich. Si ...
as its youngest participant. ARD International Music Competition 2011 In 2018 she won the Concours Geza Anda in Zurich


Orchestras and performances

Huangci has appeared as a soloist performing with well-known orchestras such as the
Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...
, the
Indianapolis Symphony The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Cir ...
, the
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orches ...
under the direction of
Sir Roger Norrington Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born 16 March 1934) is an English conductor. He is known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. In November 2021 Norrington announced his retirement. Life No ...
, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the
Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is an Austrian orchestra, based in the town and state of Salzburg. The orchestra gives concerts in several Salzburg venues, including the '' Großes Festspielhaus'', the Great Hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum. ...
, the
Vancouver Symphony The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, i ...
, the
Munich Chamber Orchestra The Munich Chamber Orchestra (german: Münchener Kammerorchester, links=no, italic=no, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at ...
, the
China Philharmonic The China Philharmonic Orchestra (中国爱乐乐团; abbreviated CPO) is an orchestra founded in Beijing, China, on May 25, 2000, based on the previous "China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra". It is a division of the State Administration of Rad ...
, the Cannes Orchestre, the St. Petersburg Symphony, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the
Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie The Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie (DSP) (''German String Philharmonic'') is a German string youth orchestra, based in Bonn. History The ensemble was founded in 1973 as the selection string orchestra of the music schools of the German Democrat ...
, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, and the Santa Fe Symphony as well as the Istanbul State Symphony. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Zürich Tonhalle,
Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated fro ...
, Gasteig Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Salle Cortot Paris, Oji Hall in Tokyo and Symphony Hall in Osaka. Additionally, she is a guest artist at festivals such as the
Kissinger Sommer The Kissinger Sommer is a classical music festival held every year in the summer in the city of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Southern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986. At the beginning the focus of the festival was on the improvem ...
,
Verbier Verbier is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is a holiday resort and ski area in the Swiss Alps and is recognised as one of the premier off-piste resorts in the world. Some areas are covered with snow al ...
,
Ravinia Ravinia may refer to: * ''Ravinia'' (fly), a genus of flesh flies * Ravinia, South Dakota, U.S., a town * Ravinia Festival, a music festival in Highland Park, Illinois, U.S. * Ravinia station Ravinia is a station on Metra's Union Pacific North ...
, Łódź Rubinstein Festival,
Menuhin Festival Gstaad The Menuhin Festival Gstaad is a music festival founded by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin held every summer since 1957 in the Swiss alpine town of Gstaad, after being asked by the director of tourism to "enhance the summer season with some concerts". ...
, Mozartfest Würzburg and the
Schwetzinger Festspiele The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany. In 1952, the broadca ...
.


Discography

In the summer of 2013, Huangci released her solo debut recording of solo works by
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...
and
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
under the
Berlin Classics Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this status ...
label. She has released a second solo album in 2015 featuring
sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
s by Scarlatti. In 2019 she released a CD of concertos by Chopin and
Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;  – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versa ...
.


References


External links

*
Queen Elisabeth Music Competition of Belgium15 Questions to Claire Huangci

Audio sample from WQXR studio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huangci, Claire 1990 births Living people American classical pianists American women classical pianists Musicians from Rochester, New York Curtis Institute of Music alumni 21st-century American women pianists Classical musicians from New York (state) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century American pianists