Award-winning pianist Sheng Cai has embraced the keyboard tradition which epitomizes the greatness of the romantic virtuoso. His performances have touched audiences and won the praise of critics on three continents and spanned a wide range of repertoire from the Bartok 1st piano concerto to the Shostakovich 2nd concerto and beyond.  Of his Chopin 1st piano concerto the Toronto Star headlined: “Young pianist impresses at debut” and continued “a young man with real talent… from a clear, singing tone to a subtle sense of rubato to a judicious choice of tempi… some of the same qualities embodied in Pollini’s approach”. Honored with a number of prizes and awards, Sheng Cai has been described as a pianist “with great confidence… lucidity, breath, color and power” by the Birmingham News.

Since his debut with the Toronto Symphony at just fifteen years old, he has enjoyed numerous engagements as guest soloist with the symphonies of Quebec, Windsor, Fort Collins and Shanghai, as well as with the Calgary Philharmonic, Ontario Philharmonic, Jalisco Philharmonic and New Bedford Symphony, among others. In Canada, Sheng Cai has been invited to perform with the Sudbury and Kamloops Symphonies, and with the Winnipeg Symphony Chamber Players. He has worked with such conductors as David Lockington, Keith Lockhart, Dirk Meyer, Yoav Talmi, Eckart Preu, Marco Parisotto, Dina Gilbert, Glen Fast, Robert Franz, Bruce Dunn and Guoyong Zhang.

In recital, Sheng Cai has been heard at Jordan Hall in Boston, the Cleveland Play House, Steinway Hall in New York, the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, the Alys Stephens Center in Birgmingham, CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and other distinguished venues in Stratford, Elora, Montreal and Winnipeg. In China, he inaugurated the Ningbo Concert Hall, giving both recitals and concerto performances. As a chamber musician, Sheng Cai has collaborated with a number of fine artists, including the Enso Quartet. Many of his performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio, and he has recorded a CD for the Canadian Broadcast Company. In addition, he was invited to take part in the filming of Franz Liszt DVD of Ophra Yerushalmi.

Sheng Cai also recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio for Concertino Praga International Competition in the Czech Republic, these were released under the Canadian Broadcasting Company label.

Sheng Cai was top prize winner at competitions throughout his teenage years, including First Prize at the TD National Piano Competition, the Canadian Music Competition, the Toronto Music Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Piano Competition, Toronto Symphony Piano Competition, and was the youngest finalist and special prize winner at the Bosendorfer International Piano Competition and the youngest finalist at Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Born in China, Sheng Cai studied at Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was a prize winner of the National Competition in 1998. The following year, his family immigrated to Canada where he began study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Sheng Cai earned his Bachelor of Music Degree under full scholarship at New England Conservatory in Boston. His teachers have included pianists Anton Kuerti, Russell Sherman and Hungkuan Chen.