Shanni Liu
pianist and accompanist in 伦敦, 英国
Chinese born Shanni Liu began her musical journey at a young age. She started learning piano performance at the age of five, competing and performing regularly, impressively completing all ten of the Chinese Musicians Association Grades by age fourteen. It was by this stage that Shanni knew that her passion for the piano was going to shape her whole future.
She successfully completed her BA in Musical Education (piano pathway) in 2015, at the prestigious Minzu University of China (MUC), proudly gaining the highest mark in classes. It was here that she started studying piano accompaniment with The Central Conservatory of Music’s Lu Jiang and quickly developed a love for accompanying singers. Shanni developed an appreciation for German and Italian repertoire and was quickly recognized as a sensitive and skillful accompanist.
Performing as a piano accompanist to the university chorus in the concert co-organized by MUC and Hong Kong Baptist University in 2012 at just nineteen years old was a significant highlight in Shanni’s early career. In 2014, she was honored to accompany the famous soprano Jiali Zhu and her students on their tour, performing in destinations such as Long Island University (New York), Magee Secondary School (Vancouver), and Richard Nixon Library (Los Angles). Shortly after, Shanni participated in JENESYS 2.0 project co-organized by Sino-Japan Friendship Association and accompanied MUC chorus in the communicational conference .
From 2015, she worked with singers in their vocal training, providing accompaniment for their university entrance exams. Branching out, Shanni also enjoys acting as a conductor, notably conducting a choral song in Professor Yangyang Liu’s concert in 2014.
In 2017, Shanni was honored to commence her MA in Performance at The Royal Academy of Music, training under John Reid. It is in London, that Shanni feels best placed to further hone her accompanying skills and as her experience and repertoire develops, she states that “now she knows what real music sounds like”. Shanni will continue to accompany singers and instrumentalists at various concerts throughout the next year.