Yingdi Sun
Winner of the 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
 
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Yingdi Sun, First Prize winner at the 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition
 

Yingdi Sun (b. 1980) won First Prize at the prestigious 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, which was held in Utrecht in 2005. By winning the prize he has embarked on a demanding two-year concert tour in the Netherlands and abroad. This tour takes him around the globe and includes, in addition to many concerts in leading Dutch concert halls, performances in France, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Macau, Hong Kong, China, the United States and South Africa. Already on the morning after the Final of the Liszt Competition, Yingdi performed in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jean-Bernard Pommier. In the course of his concert tour, he has played with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Yingdi is also a very welcome guest in his own country. In November 2005 he was the guest of the Chinese President HU Jintao as part of the festivities in honour of the visit of U.S. President George Bush to China.
Yingdi played at the Xiamen International Piano Festival in August. He also went to the Netherlands to play at the Summer Music Festival in Gelderland and subsequently performed with the Conservatory of Shanghai Orchestra at several concerts in Germany. Yingdi will be going to New Zealand on a concert tour from 7 - 19 October. He has played together with the two winners of the Weimar and Budapest Liszt Competitions in Utrecht, Weimar, Budapest and Paris in October and November. With The Macao Orchestra Yingdi played in November 2006. Yingdi will play with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2007.  In March and April 2007 Yingdi toured through Europe and the United States of America with Augustin Hadelich, Gold Medalist of the Indianapolis Violin Competition. The tour has been titled 'Pure Gold'.
The Shanghai-born Yingdi Sun was already winning prizes in his native China at an early age, including the Golden Bell Award at the Second National Piano Competition. In 2004, he was awarded a grant from Yamaha, enabling him to give chamber music concerts together with prize winners from the International Paganini Violin Competition and Tchaikovsky International Music Competition. In his own country, he was recently awarded the 'Bao Steel' Education Award and the Special Prize for Artists by Shanghai government. Yingdi Sun studied with Professor Sheng Yi-qi at the Conservatory of Music in Shanghai and has participated in the master classes of, amongst others, Philippe Entremont, Xu Zhong and Leslie Howard.


 Conductors
 Stefan Asbury
Guoyong Chang
Jules van Hessen
András Ligeti
Michel Plasson
Jean-Bernard Pommier
Daniel Raiskin
Michel Tabachnik
Muhai Tang
Lihua Tan
Edo de Waart

Orchestras
Beijing Symphony Orchestra
Czech National Symphony Orchestra

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra
Philips Symphony Orchestra
Rotterdams Philharmonic Orchestra
Shanghai Opera Orchestra
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra
 Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra

The Macao Orchestra

Musicians
 Augustin Hadelich, violin
 Mengla Huang, violin
Miranda van Kralingen, soprano
Enrico Pace, piano
Li-wei Qin, cello
 Mathilde Santing, vocals
Tiberius Kwartet (Romania) 

Festivals
Bayreuther Klavierfestival, Germany
Fort4Klassiek, Belgium
Gelderse Muziek Zomer, Nijmegen
Grachtenfestival Amsterdam
Grachtenfestival aan de Maas (Thorn)
In Memoriam Ferenc Liszt Piano Festival, Hungary
International Piano Festival Shanghai, China
Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Finland
Operadagen Rotterdam
Orlando Festival  
Shanghai Spring International Music Festival

Press reviews
'Sun was the only pianist who flawlessly performed Liszt’s gruesome octave jumps and maintained the tension in both pieces to the very end.'
(De Telegraaf)

 

'In both pieces, winner Sun proved to be the most inspired musician. His recital was distinguished by colour and elegance. His arpeggios sound like wistful clouds, with drops of mist shining individually.' (De Volkskrant)

'The jury awarded first prize to the Chinese pianist Sun Yingdi. Understandable, with Sun’s flawless precision, his clear and sparkling performance, and his ability to communicate actively with the orchestra. You could call his interpretations, ‘Liszt in primary colours.' (Utrechts Nieuwsblad)

'Winner Yingdi presented himself as the most stable finalist. He made a relaxed and solid impression with his fluent virtuoso interpretations, in which he emphasized in mild colour patterns the lyrical and poetic qualities of Liszt.' (NRC Handelsblad)  

'Sun Yingdi made a highly convincing impression with his nimble playing, characterised by a seemingly unlimited technical mastery.'
(Twentsche Courant Tubantia)

 'He revealed the music’s profound expressivity, and clearly demonstrated an ability to move the listener. He emphasised dynamics in a striking manner and created a logical and coherent whole from the strongly contrasting movements.' (Brabants Dagblad)

'His playing betrays a phenomenal degree of knowledge of the piano as an instrument.' (De Gelderlander)

'Sun Yingdi’s fingers move across the keyboard faster than the eye can follow them; his left hand has the accuracy of a karate blow. His technique is totally flawless.' (De Stentor)

'Twenty-five-year-old Sun Yingdi scored above all with his unflagging technical mastery, which enabled him consistently to deliver octaves, chords and dyads with the power and precision of dumdum bullets.' (Piano News, Germany)
'It was brilliantly executed, the numerous technical challenges provided by fast, repeated-note and running passages melting away in Yingdi's capable hands. Impish arpeggios moved mercurially from darkness to sheer joy in the twinkle of an eye, the entire interpretation capturing the essential scariness of the piece.' (The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)

'With his superb piano technique, Yingdi took the audience by storm on an exciting, sometimes adventure journey. He played so beautifully that sometimes just listening to him left the audience, many of which were young music students, breathless in admiration.'
(The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)

(Concert given on Liszt’s Steingraeber piano in  Bayreuth)
 'Yingdi Sun brings to life even such a virtuoso’s nightmare as Liszt’s 'Sonetto di Petrarca'  with an ease that one can only shake one’s head in amazement.' (Nordbayerischer Kurier, newspaper Germany)

'He is a pianist who has a smart, clear brain, instead of only having brilliant fingers. His playing is full of sense and sensibility. Because he is involved in playing contemporary music, his playing is very pleasant and vivid, very sensitive to rhythms. It's is very rare among local pianists of his age.' (Shanghai Daily, China)