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Liu Hao (pianist)

July 2022, Hao held a solo piano concert at Xian Music Hall, China. (Photo by Xiangzi)

Liu Hao (also known as 刘浩) is an outstanding young Chinese pianist.

He was born blind. He performs extensively, has received critical acclaim for his unique techniques for learning music and performing with many pianists while being unable to see.

Early life and education

Liu Hao, a renowned young pianist from China, was born in 2001 in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.

Despite permanently losing his vision soon after birth, Hao started playing songs on keyboard at age 3, through which his love of music surfaced. By age 7, his musical talents and versatility thrived with the inspiration of the world-famous Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang.

For decades, Hao has been taught by many piano teachers, including Liu Yongxue, Wang Haibo, Zhang Zhiwei, Zhang Jin, Wang Qiu, and Li Huili, followed by Professor Sheng Yuan from the China Central Conservatory of Music for the longest time. In recent years, Hao has been under on-going careful guidance by Professor Jerome Lowenthal, a well-known piano educator of the Juilliard School. Since August 2022, Hao is currently enrolled in the prestigious Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University under the direction of Piano Department Chair, Professor Alexander Shtarkman.

Performances around world

Liu Hao has held many piano recitals and performed at various demotic and international music venues:

• In June 2024, Hao held his first solo concert in the Greater Washington area at the BLACKROCK CENTER music hall in Maryland. Hao also received Congratulatory Letter for Outstanding Achievement from the Maryland General Assembly, Peace Award Certificate from the UNESCO Center for Peace, Certificate of Outstanding Achievement from the International Forum Organization.

• In January 2023, Hao gave an online fundraising performance for the Chinese New Year Charity Concert organized by the Montreal Chinese Culture and Arts Foundation and Rotary Club of Old Montreal of Canada.
• In November 2022, Hao was invited to perform at the National Arts Club in New York.
• In July 2022, Hao held a solo piano concert at Xian Music Hall, China, followed by his “Sunshine from the Fingertips” concerts in Guangdong and Beijing, China.
• In 2021 Spring Festival, Hao was invited to serve as the “Inspirational Ambassador” for the New York Fu Jian Student Association; His Zoom concert performance of “Liu Yang River” was well received by the Fu Jian Fellow Club members.  
• In 2019, Hao gave his “Sunshine from the Fingertips” solo concert in Beijing. Later in the year while visiting U.S., he was invited to perform and share his learning experience at two local schools, of which the Filomen D’Agostino Greenberg Music School is committed to helping people addressing the challenges posed by vision loss.
• In August 2018, Hao participated in the 13th Beijing International Music Festival & Academy. He was highly praised by many famous teachers during the master class, such as Professor Mattl Raekallio of the Juilliard School, Professor Ursula Oppens and Professor Pavlina Dokovska of Mannes School of Music.
• On May 4th Mother’s Day in 2018, Hao gave his first piano recital in U.S. at the Nicholas Concert Hall of Rutgers University, New Jersey.
• In January 2018, invited by the famous Crescendo International Music Competition Committee, Hao gave a series of performance at the Carnegie Hall in New York. In February, Hao played the 4th movement of piano concerto "The Yellow River” with the Asian Cultural Symphony for the Chinese Spring Festival Evening in Pulansburg, New Jersey State Grand Theater.  
• In October 2017, at the Shanghai Zhongying Black Forest Central Park Concert, Hao in collaboration with the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra impressively staged the 4th movement of piano concerto "The Yellow River” for the first time.
• In January 2016, Hao successfully held his first piano solo recital at the Beijing Zhongshan Concert Hall. In October of the same year, Hao was invited to perform Mozart’s Concerto with the Vienna Haydn Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna City Hall in Austria, where he received "Life Goes On – the Tara Award" and became the youngest winner since the establishment of the award that encourages outstanding achievers who strived for disasters.

Accolades

Liu Hao has won numerous national and international piano competitions:

• 2019, Liszt International Youth Piano Competition – China Finals, Gold Prize.
• 2016, Vienna City Hall, Austria, Mozart Concerto with the Vienna Haydn Symphony Orchestra, "Life Goes On – the Tara Award".
• 2015, Beijing 7th Steinway National Youth Piano Competition, Amateur Finals, 1st place.
• 2010, Berlin, Germany, Schumann International Youth Piano Competition, International Finals, 3rd place.
• 2009, Schumann International Youth Piano Competition, Beijing Region, 1st place; Asia Pacific Region, 3rd place.

Other programs

Hao has been featured by numerous Chinese national and regional television programs, including CCTV “Lesson 1《开学第一课》”, “The Genius Stage 《天才舞台》”, “Juvenile China Strong 《少年中国强》”, and “Challenging the Impossible 《挑战不可能》”. In 2007, Hao was selected through vigorous screenings to perform with Lang Lang in the “101 Pianist Program.” Ten years later in August 2017, he was honored to attend the “Lang Lang Philanthropy Master Class” at the National Center for the Performing Arts. Hao also received an exclusive interview with Lang Lang in the famous program "Luyu You Yue (Chat with Luyu)." In a January 2018 CCTV special program “I Want to Play for the Spring Festival Gala 《我要上春晚》”, he played duet of “Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon” with Lang Lang. In late 2018, Hao was honored the Young Artist title by Si-Yo Music Society Foundation (U.S.). In addition, his influential story has been adapted into two inspirational films "A Blind Piano Boy (2011)" and "Dream Chasing (2016)", in which "A Blind Piano Boy" was starring by himself. Hao was also nominated for the "2012 Beijing Role Model".

Charity Received

Over the years, Liu Hao is very grateful to receive organizational or personal financial donations from the Beijing Apple Charity Foundation, Zhou Libo & Hu Jie Public Charity Fund, Edifier Musicians Foundation, Si-Yo Music Society Foundation, New York Yellow Crane Club, etc. Beijing Yixi International Costume has also been making custom-made performance costumes for Liu Hao for a long time.