| Daniel Hsu | |
| Birth Date: | 27 June 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Fremont, California |
| Genre: | Classical |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Instrument: | piano |
| Years Active: | 2005–present |
Daniel Hsu (born June 27, 1997) is an American classical pianist. He won the bronze medal, the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work, and the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music at the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.[1]
Born in Fremont, California, Hsu began studying piano at 6 with Larisa Kagan. By age 8, he was the youngest winner of the San Francisco Chopin Competition and had made his concerto debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra.[2] The following year marked his recital debut at the Steinway Society of the Bay Area. At age 10, he was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music to study with Gary Graffman and Eleanor Sokoloff. He later studied with Robert McDonald as well.
Hsu's older brother, Andrew Hsu, and older sister, Ashley Hsu, are also pianists.[3]
Hsu has performed with orchestras worldwide including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony. His Carnegie Hall debut was in April 2017 as part of the Concert Artists Guild Winners Series.[4] He has given solo recitals at venues such as the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and has toured across Japan. Hsu has been featured on the radio including WQXR's Young Artists Showcase series and The Greene Space in New York City.[5] FHsu has also toured the United States as a chamber musician with the Verona String Quartet.
Since winning the San Francisco Chopin Competition at 8 years old, Hsu has earned top prizes and awards including the Gilmore Young Artist Award in 2016, first prize in the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and bronze medal at the 2015 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.
On June 10, 2017, Hsu won the bronze medal of the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in addition to the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work (Toccata on "L'homme armé" by Marc-André Hamelin) and the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music. Out of 290 applicants, the Competition selected 30 pianists to come to Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the live competition. Over the course of two and a half weeks, Hsu was required to perform a total of two and half hours of solo repertoire (divided into three recitals), one piano quintet with the Brentano String Quartet, one Mozart piano concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan, and another piano concerto for the final round, which Hsu chose Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.[6] As a result of winning the bronze medal, Hsu received $15,000 cash, 3 years of management, a live recording and recording partnership with Universal Music Group, press kits, videos, and a website. For the chamber music award he received $6,000 and for the new work award, he received $5,000.[7]
On August 18, 2017, Decca Gold released Hsu's first solo album, ‘’Cliburn Bronze’’.[8] The album was featured as KUSC’s Album of the Week in September 2017.[9]
Hsu is currently the Richard A. Doran Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music pursuing a bachelor of music in piano performance.[10]
| Year | Event | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition | Bronze medal |
| 2017 | Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition | Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work |
| 2017 | Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition | Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music |
| 2016 | N/A | Gilmore Young Artist Award[11] |
| 2015 | Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition | First prize |
| 2015 | Hamamatsu International Piano Competition | Bronze medal[12] |
| 2015 | N/A | Williamson Foundation for Music grant recipient[13] |
| 2007 | Pacific Musical Society Piano Competition | First place, James Denver Prize |
| 2007 | Menuhin-Dowling Young Artist Competition | First prize |
| 2007 | San Jose International Piano Competition (formerly International Russian Piano Competition) | First prize |
| 2005 | San Francisco Chopin Competition | First prize[14] |
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Cliburn Bronze 2017 | Decca Gold |
| 2016 | 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition 2015[15] | ALM Records |
Hsu is also involved in computer programming. Among other projects, he has contributed to the app called Workflow which helps users automate tasks on several Apple devices. The app has received the 2015 Apple Design Award and was acquired by Apple in March 2017.[16]