Chengyao Zhou was born in Zhejiang, China and started studying piano at age three. At age nine she entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to further her studies, and in 2018, at age 11, she moved to the United States to study with Dr. Ernest Barreta at Juilliard’s Pre-College program as a piano major student.
In 2019, she won first prize at the Grand Metropolitan International Piano Competition and performed at Carnegie Hall in the winner’s concert. A few months later, she was named the alternate winner in the Juilliard Pre-College Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 Competition. In 2020, she won first prize at the Manhattan International Music Competition and performed again at Carnegie Hall in the winner’s concert. In 2021, she won the Juilliard Pre-College Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 Competition and performed with Juilliard’s Pre-College Symphony. In 2022, she was the winner of the Nordmann and Bachauer Piano Scholarship Competition at Juilliard Pre-College, winning the Bachauer Prize. In 2019, she attended the Oxford University International Piano Festival in the United Kingdom. That year, she also attended the Adamant Music Festival in Adamant, Vermont, and Musica Mundi in Waterloo, Belgium. Chengyao has attended master classes taught by Menahem Pressler and Gary Graffman. In 2020, she performed a solo recital for the Druzdoff Society’s “Impromptu! Classical Music Recital Series” in Stamford, Connecticut.
In addition to her passion for piano, Chengyao is a bit obsessive about math, a bit addicted to the Harry Potter books, and loves to spend time reading, playing basketball, and taking photographs.
REPERTOIRE
ROUND I
Debussy Images: Book 1, No. 1, Reflets dans l’eau, L. 110
Mozart Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major, K. 333
ROUND II
Bach Prelude and Fugue, No. 18 in G-sharp minor, BWV 863/WTC 1
Liszt Transcendental Etude, No. 10 in F-minor, Appassionata, S. 139
Vine Sonata No 1, Mvt. 1
Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
ROUND III
Chopin Concerto No. 1, in E minor, Op. 11