Brian Hsu
Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Oregon, Taiwanese-American pianist Brian Hsu has been recognized for his electrifying energy and highly communicative performances since making his concerto debut at age 16 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Critics have praised his playing in superlatives, citing his “breadth of expression and technical ability.”
An accomplished and versatile performer, Hsu has appeared throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa, with performances in major U.S. cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and Dallas. He has been featured as concerto soloist with leading ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Sendai Philharmonic, the University of Oregon Symphony, the Haddonfield Symphony, and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. His performances have been broadcast nationally on WQXR in New York and All Classical Radio in Portland. Festival appearances include the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the Banff Festival of the Arts in Canada, PianoFest in the Hamptons, the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain, the Eastern Music Festival, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Hsu’s U.S. debut solo album, Night at the Opera: Part I, featuring virtuosic opera transcriptions for solo piano, was released in 2018 to wide acclaim. In addition to his competition successes, he has received numerous awards during his studies at The Juilliard School, Yale University, and the University of Michigan.
Equally active as a collaborator, educator, and advocate, Hsu is frequently invited as a guest artist and clinician at universities across the United States and Asia, as well as a presenter and adjudicator for MTNA events and major international competitions, including the San Diego International Piano Competition, the New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the Nanyang Academy of the Arts in Singapore. A passionate chamber musician, he has performed with distinguished artists worldwide, collaborates regularly with Chamber Music Northwest as a chamber musician, and participated in the world premiere of Paul Schoenfeld’s Piano Quintet with members of the Pro Arte Quartet (Albany Records, 2014). He also joined Ensemble Peri for its inaugural tour of Korea and is a founding member of Key to Inclusion, an intercollegiate initiative dedicated to promoting piano music by Black American and other underrepresented composers, which has presented at several MTNA National Conferences, the Context Conference at the Eastman School of Music, and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP).
Hsu’s extensive teaching experience includes appointments at Yale University, the University of Michigan, the Eastern Music Festival, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, Siena Heights University, and the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts, as well as faculty positions at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and the McAlester Institute. He previously served as Associate Professor of Piano at Loyola University New Orleans. His principal teachers include Logan Skelton, Arthur Greene, Peter Frankl, Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Wha-Kyung Byun, Da-Ming Zhu, and John Kuo. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (BM, MM), Yale University (Artist Diploma), and the University of Michigan (DMA).
More information, including recordings and upcoming engagements, can be found at www.brian-hsu.com.
