Claire Huangci

Claire Huangci Biography

Claire Huangci (born March 22, 1990) is an American classical pianist. ] Huangci was born in Rochester, New York to Chinese parents who are both scientists.[citation needed] Their areas of study include biochemistry and structural chemistry. She received a grand piano as a gift for her 6th birthday. Until she was 11 years old Huangci studied with pianist Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. During these years she was featured on FOX news as a child prodigy with "the skills of a professional pianist", and won many local concerto competitions. At 8 years old, 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.[citation needed] Education[edit]Huangci was supported with scholarships from DAAD and Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben for two years.[citation needed] Having completed four years of study at The Curtis Institute of Music, she continued her music education in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover under Professor Arie Vardi, beginning in October 2007. Career[edit] Huangci won First Prize in the 2009 Europäischer Chopin Klavierwettbewerb in Darmstadt[1] and the Orpheum Music Prize in Zurich; the First and Special Prize at the 2010 National Chopin Competition in Miami, USA,[2] and the Second Prize at the 2011 ARD International Music Competition as its youngest participant.[3] Orchestras and performances[edit] Huangci has appeared as a soloist performing with well-known orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Vancouver Symphony, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the China Philharmonic, the Cannes Orchestre, the St. Petersburg Symphony, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, 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, 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, Verbier, Ravinia, Łódź Rubinstein Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Mozartfest Würzburg and the Schwetzinger Festspiele.