A student of Dang Thai Son, the great Vietnamese-born pianist and fantastic professor at the Université de Montréal’s Music Department, young Sophia Shuya Liu would be the next local prodigy to make the leap into the international arena. With agents from all over the world interested in her supravirtuoso potential, it won’t be long before her admirers multiply across the entire classical planet.

Born in Shanghai in 2008, Sophia Shuya Liu lived in Japan with her family, and has since settled in Montreal, where she studied piano with Dang Thai Son from the age of 9. 

Numerous awards followed until now (she is actually 16) : the first prizes of the Kobe Art Center Piano Competition (Japan), the Hangzhou Competition (China), the 18th Ettlingen International Piano Competition (Germany), the Hartford International Chopin Competition and the Philadelphia International Chopin Competition (both in the United States). In 2023, she won the Thomas & Evon Cooper Competition for young soloists (in the United States), which earned her the opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra and David Robertson, then Second Prize in the first Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Competition in Brescia, Italy, with several Special Prizes, including the Audience Prize. 

Sophia Shuya Liu has since performed on prestigious stages in the  Americas, Asia and Europe. Her first CD was released recently. In 2025, she will perform at Chopin Festivals in Warsaw and Duszniki, at the Boston Summer Piano Festival, also at the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron International Festival. She just made her Paris debut at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, as well as La Folle Journée de Nantes, in Geneva, the Piano à Saint-Ursanne Festival.

PAN M 360 : People talk about you with boundless admiration. How do you live with this pressure to excel?

Sophia Shuya Liu : I am very grateful that people admire me. I think that their enthusiasm turns into a source of inspiration for me and motivates me to always reach new heights.

PAN M 360 : How do you manage your emergence and stay zen?

Sophia Shuya Liu : I am generally not too concerned about what happens around me, especially in the context of my performances. I focus on playing and interpreting music the best way I can. 

PAN M 360 : How do you live through all these eloquent stages?

Sophia Shuya Liu : These competitions have allowed me to learn, grow, and gain new experiences. I think they were quite beneficial, but competition prizes ultimately don’t mean too much. 

PAN M 360 : How do you see the joy of playing while taking on these extraordinary challenges?

Sophia Shuya Liu : I love music. As I play, I convey messages through this beautiful universal language that people can resonate with. Performing is always a great joy for me, and it is what I was meant to do.

PAN M 360 :Do you have any absolute role models in piano performance?

Sophia Shuya Liu : I have had many different role models and musicians that I admire, and my taste is always changing, so I don’t always have a definitive answer. But if I have to choose one musician in particular, I very much admire my teacher, Prof. Dang Thai Son.

PAN M 360 : What do you think sets you apart from your peers, even at your young age?

Sophia Shuya Liu : I think I have considerably solid technique, thanks to being taught by excellent teachers from a young age which I’m always very grateful for. Having received such education, I have also been fascinated by the depth of music from a young age. 

PAN M 360 : We’re living in a time when hundreds of thousands of young musicians want to make their mark on this planet. Where do you want to be? What motivates you?

Sophia Shuya Liu : Of course, I also have the same desire: to leave an important mark on this planet. And I’m constantly working towards this goal. I try to develop my own interpretations as well as techniques used to realize my ideas, but I strive for these slight differences to be approved and recognized by experts.

PAN M 360 : How do you see your multiple cultural identities?

Sophia Shuya Liu : Every culture has its own unique essence, and studying different cultures is very beneficial in expressing music through different perspectives.

PAN M 360 : You’ve chosen to introduce us to the music of the composer prodigies Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Chopin. How do you justify your choice?

Sophia Shuya Liu : First of all, I’m always very touched by the music of these composers and I deeply admire their ability to convey their messages through their own musical language. Every time I play their music, I feel like my mind and soul are being cleansed. Their works are precious treasures of humanity. But of course, I’m constantly learning new music and I will introduce music by many other fascinating composers in the future. 

PAN M 360 : Could you briefly comment on your relationship to these works?

Sophia Shuya Liu : It is difficult to explain my association with each one of these works. But, in general, some of these works are orchestral or operatic transcriptions.

* Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite is a ballet transcription, and the story of the Nutcracker serves as important context and background. Within the suite, many of them are dances, and each of their characteristics stand out. Overall, this is a piece that many people are familiar with and certainly a crowd favorite. 

* Liszt’s Reminiscences de Norma is an opera transcription. The themes used throughout the piece are all very melodic and have a singing quality. At the same time, the piece is portrayed by a grandiose orchestrational tone. Of course, the work tells a meaningful story and is very narrative. 

* Chopin’s Variations on “Là ci darem la mano” is also an opera transcription based on Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”. Chopin used this popular duet, sung by Don Giovanni and Zerlina, as the theme of this piece. The piece contains three main parts: the introduction and theme, the variations which are brilliant and attractive, and the “Alla Polacca” (polonaise) which is the final variation and the coda. This final part contains some of the most enchanting elements of this piece. It is important to remember that Chopin wrote this piece when he was only 17 years old!