Lauded for her “extraordinarily varied palette” (WholeNote Magazine) and “purely magical” playing (New York Concert Review), Tokyo-born Chinese-Canadian pianist Silvie Cheng illuminates musical works with her exquisite touch at the keyboard. Since her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2011, she has performed internationally as both a solo recitalist and collaborative pianist on five continents, from the California Center for the Arts to Brussels’ Flagey Hall, Montreal’s Salle Bourgie to Santiago’s Centro GAM, and the University of South Africa to Shanghai’s Poly Theatre.
In the 2022/23 season, Silvie was the musician-in-residence of Cecilia Concerts in Halifax and a National Arts Club Artist Fellow in New York City. Recent highlights as guest soloist with orchestra include appearances with Symphony Nova Scotia and the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. Her distinctions over the years include top prizes at the Thousand Islands and Heida Hermanns International Piano Competitions, the Canadian Music Competition National Finals, and the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. Her performances, recordings, and interviews have been broadcast on CBC Radio Two, WQXR, Vermont Public Radio, ICI Musique, Radio-Canada International, WCRB Classical Music Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Winnipeg Classic FM, BBC Radio Scotland, ORF Radio Austria, Classical Radio Orpheus Russia, Kulturradio RBB Berlin, Südwestrundfunk (SWR2), NDR Kultur and hr2-kultur Frankfurt.
An avid chamber musician, Silvie tours extensively as the pianist of the Cheng² Duo alongside her cellist brother, Bryan Cheng, and has shared the stage with pianist Angela Hewitt, clarinetist James Campbell, as well as members of the Aizuri, Attacca, and Kronos Quartets. Her affinity for working closely with living composers has led to over fifty world premieres since 2010, in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Cornell University, and the National Gallery of Canada.
Silvie has recorded for audite, Centrediscs, Navona, and New Focus Recordings. She is a teaching-artist of the Manhattan School of Music's Orto Center and has presented masterclasses and adjudicated for Steinway Piano Gallery Ottawa, The Hnatyshyn Foundation, and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
