Shangru Du is a rising young concert pianist who was once described by the legendary pianist and scholar Paul Badura-Skoda as "... an extraordinary pianist brimming with musicianship." 

As a highly sought-after performer, Shangru has appeared at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Paul and Morse Recital Hall at Juilliard School, Kilbourn Hall at Eastman School of Music, Finney Chapel and Warner Concert Hall in Oberlin, Griffin Concert Hall and Grace Commons Hall in Colorado, Concert Halls of Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Shenzhen Poly Theater, and many other venues across the world. Recently, Shangru performed Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3 with the Eastman Philharmonia in Feburary 2023 as a result of winning the concerto competition at Eastman School of Music. He has also performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Boulder Symphony in Colorado.

Shangru has received numerous awards and scholarships for his academic and musical excellence as a student. Recent awards include first prize in the Yamaha Music Scholarship Piano Competition, two first prizes (Solo and Concerto) in the International Keyboard Odyssiad® Festival Competition, U.S.A. (2022), first prize in the Rubato International Piano Competition (2022), and winner of the Concerto Competition at the Eastman School of Music. He also achieved second prize in the Kawai Asian Piano Competition and first prize in the Yangtze Cup Piano Competition. Scholarships include the Cecilia Felman, Arthur Gold & Robert Fizdale Piano Scholarship from the Juilliard School, the Dean’s Merit Scholarship from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Pi Kappa Lambda award from Theta Chapter of the National Music Honor Society for his excellent academic work and outstanding musicianship.

Shangru was born in Shandong, China, and began playing the piano at the age of six. He initially studied with Zhaoyi Dan at Shenzhen Art School and later with pianist Hong Xu at Wuhan Conservatory of Music (Middle School). His pursuit of further education led him to the United States, where he studied with Cliburn gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earning his Bachelor’s Degree in 2020. Subsequently, Shangru attended the Juilliard School, where he received his Master’s Degree under the tutelage of Professors Matti Raekallio and Jerome Lowenthal. Currently, Shangru is pursuing his Doctoral degree at the Eastman School of Music with Professor Douglas Humpherys. He has also had the privilege of working with distinguished musicians such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode, Robert Levin, Emanuel Ax, Peter Frankl, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Cyprien Katsaris, Ursula Oppens, Dang Thai Son, and William Grant Naboré.

In addition to his piano studies, Shangru is passionate about composing. He studied composition with composer Phillip Lasser at Juilliard. Some of his most recent compositions include Stillness - Five Pieces for Solo Piano (2021), Prelude - for Solo Piano (2021), River Snow - for Mezzo-soprano and Piano (2021), and Voyage - for chamber orchestra (2022).

(Jan 2023)