Pianist Lizhen Wu was born in 1988 in the town of Yue Yang in the People’s Republic of China, where he began studying the piano at age five. Because of his promising musical gifts, he was accepted into the Wuhan Conservatory, requiring him to move away from home at an early age. At the Conservatory, Wu studied with Wang Xian, who remained his teacher until he came to study in the United States in 2006.
Wu, known to his American friends as Rick, won First Prize in the Hazimen Piano Competition in China and was invited to the United States to perform at four universities, including the University of North Texas (UNT), where he received the Larry Waltz Scholarship award, the university’s highest scholarship, for four years running. He auditioned for the Bachelor of Performing Arts degree at the UNT College of Music, and was accepted as a freshman performance major in the fall of 2006 on full scholarship. He studied there with Dr. Pamela Mia Paul. In 2012, Wu was accepted as a graduate student at Southern Methodist University (SMU), again on full scholarship. He currently studies with Maestro Joaquín Achúcarro.
As a Pianist, Wu has been invited to perform at several prestigious events and competitions including an on-air performance on Dallas classical radio program 101.1 FM, a second prize finish at the 2013 Dallas Chamber International Piano Competition, as well recitals all across Texas and China. To further his music education and professional aspirations, Wu has had lessons and/or master class lessons under the following instructors: Professor Douglas Humphreys, Seymour Lipkin, Dr. Nelita True, Mr. Harold Martina, Dr. Tamas Ungar, Pi-Hsien Chen, Hung-Kuan Chen, Meng-Chieh Liu and Alexander Korsantia.
