YSM alum Wayne Weng wins 2013 Iowa Piano Competition
On March 9, 2013, Wayne Weng ’12AD won the Seventh Iowa International Piano Competition with his performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major.
The competition, which began in 2005, is held every two years, and is limited to competitors between 18 and 35 years of age. Twelve finalists were selected from 92 applications. The finalists performed three rounds: an initial solo recital, a chamber music recital with members of the Rawlins Piano Trio, and finally, a performance of a Beethoven concerto with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra.
According to the Sioux City Journal, Weng’s performance “was superior on all counts.” The review hailed his blend of "emotion and technical strength."
Pianist Wayne Weng’s playing has been described as “bold, vibrant, and immensely musical" and as having “delicacy amounting to almost reverence […] through gossamer touch." (Wiltshire Gazette & Herald) He has performed in Canada, the United States, England, France, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Serbia, Egypt, and Hong Kong, both as recitalist as well as collaborative pianist. Mr. Weng has performed in venues such as the Kennedy Center, Steinway Hall, Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum, the 100 Club in London, the Bulgarian Consulate in New York, Ruïnekerk Bergen, Brahms Museum Mürzzuschlag, Cairo Opera House, Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, Vancouver Playhouse, and the British Columbia Governor House. His concerto performances have included appearances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, and the Avanti Orchestra. He has also been featured on radio stations such as WQXR (New York), CBC Radio, and Seattle King FM. In addition to performing, he has served as an adjudicator at the Festival on the Lake in Vancouver and the International Chopin Youth Competition in Houston.
Weng has won prizes at the Washington International Competition for Piano, Tunbridge Wells International Young Artists Competition, Haverhill Sinfonia Soloists Competition, Pacific Piano Competition, CBC Debut Concert Artists Auditions, and the Kingsville International Young Performers Competition. He has also been a recipient of the Solti Foundation Grant and the British Columbia Arts Council Senior Scholarship. He has participated in such summer festivals as the International Holland Music Sessions, International Keyboard Institute and Festival, TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Ecole d'Art Americaines in Fontainebleau, where he was awarded the Piano Prix.
Born in Taiwan in 1983, Wayne immigrated to Canada during his formative years. In 2006, under the tutelage of Natalya Antonova, he received his Bachelor of Music degree and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He subsequently studied with Pavlina Dokovska and earned the Master of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music. Thereafter he moved to London, where he was studying with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After graduating with distinction from its Advanced Instrumental Studies program in 2010, Wayne moved back to the U.S. In 2012, he received his Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Peter Frankl.
