Sherry Wu
Age: 13
Birthplace: Reno, Nevada
Biography
Sherry is a 13-year old honor student at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. Sherry began taking piano lessons at the age of 6 1/2 under the guidance of Xiao Chen Liu. For the past 3 years, Sherry had been studying under the directions of Ms Jenny Shin and has won numerous prestigious piano competitions.
Sherry has other interests including ice-skating, reading, swimming, and spending time with friends.
"12 year old Sherry performing Muczynski in Beijing during her China Tour"
Repertoire
Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.11
Franz Liszt - Etude in A-flat Major / La Leggierezza
Serge Rachmaninoff - Etude No. 5
Clementi - Sonata No. 5, Op.25
Fredrick Chopin - Berceuse B-flat Major, Op. 57
Robert Muczynski - Festival Suite, Op. 13
Johann Sebastian Bach - Duetto III, IV
Ludwig Van Beethoven - Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op.15
Samuel Barber - Sonata in G-flat Major
Johann Sebastian Bach - Goldberg Variations
Joseph Haydn - Sonata in E-flat Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Concerto in B-flat Major
Competitions
1st place - 2008 Cypress College Piano Competition
1st place - 2008 LA Sonata/Sonatina Festival
1st place - 2008 MTAC Scholarship Competition
1st place at the 2007 MTAC Los Angeles Branch Scholarship Awards
3st place - 2007 Glendale Piano Competition
1st place - 2007 Emerging Artist Piano Competition
2nd place – 2007 MTAC Los Angeles Branch Sonata/Sonatina Festival
Winner – 2007 Southern California Branch Bach Festival
Winner - Los Angeles International Liszt Competition
Winner - Southern California Bach Regional Festival
Winner - Southern California Bach Festival - Complete Works
Winner - 2006 Cypress College Piano Competition / Contemporary Era
Winner - Los Angeles International Chinese Young Musician Competition
1st place- MTAC Scholarship Competition
1st place - Emerging Artist Piano Competition
1st place - MTAC 2006 Los Angeles Branch Sonata/Sonatina Festival
Performances
Central Conservatory of Music Concert Hall (Beijing, China 2007)
Tom Lee Hall (China, 2007)
25 piano performance - Irvine Barclay Theatre
Sapphire Concert - Hollywood Ford Amphitheater
Sapphire Piano Ensemble - Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center
MTAC Scholarship awards concert
Iruka Yochien Benefit Concert, Hacienda Heights, CA
Questions for Sherry
What helps you cope with being nervous on stage? I don’t get nervous much in front of an audience anymore, but I remember when I used to. Once when I performed a concerto in a very big competition and I was so nervous. Then, when I looked over at my accompanist (my teacher - Mr. Yi Dong), I felt an amazing sense of confidence and security. I guess just knowing that my teacher was there by my side took away all my fears instantly.
What is your favorite subject in school? I enjoy all my classes in school, especially my drama classes. It takes a lot of time, hard work, and energy to prepare and rehearse for the day of our performance. It’s kind of like practicing piano for a performance, but in drama class, you get to prepare it with a lot of friends - which makes it especially fun! The best part of all is when we get to perform the show. When the audience loves it, all the hard work is worth it. It’s the same feeling I get after a piano performance.
Do you have any pets? Just Chester. He is my Teddy Bear Hamster. My little sister keeps saying that it belongs to her, but I’m the one who takes care of him. Chester knows who he belongs to. He never bites me.