Wu Qian

Wu Qian is a pianist whose career spans solo performance, chamber music, and piano-duo repertoire. Her playing combines a detailed approach to the keyboard with an emphasis on chamber-music interaction, qualities that have shaped her work as a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Trio as well as her collaborations with musicians, including Alexander Sitkovetsky, Juho Pohjonen, and other chamber artists. Her recording Unspoken: Works for Piano Duo, made with Pohjonen and released in 2026, explores the intimate repertoire written for piano four hands. Born in Shanghai, China, Qian was six when she began studying piano and three years later entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. A scholarship at 13 took her to England's Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Irina Zaritskaya. She continued her training at London's Royal Academy of Music with Arnaldo Cohen and Christopher Elton. Her early career developed quickly: at 15, she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 (K. 449) at Queen Elizabeth Hall and appeared at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad. In 2000, she joined the Philharmonia Orchestra for Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 and made her Purcell Room recital debut. Since then, Qian has established an international career spanning solo and chamber music, with performances at such distinguished venues as Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her orchestral engagements have included appearances with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Brussels Philharmonic, and Münchner Symphoniker. Chamber music has become an important part of her work as well, reflected in her first prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition with violinist Sitkovetsky and her selection for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Bowers Program. In 2007, Qian became a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Trio, performing internationally and recording repertoire by Beethoven, Dvořák, and Saint-Saëns, among others. Her solo recording debut, featuring music by Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Alexander Prior, appeared in 2009. In 2016, she received the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. Her collaboration with Pohjonen grew from their work through the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and developed into a long-term exploration of piano-duo repertoire. Unspoken brought that partnership to the ‘recording studio. ~ Jana Bojovic