The first impression pianist Shih-Man Weng gives is of someone who is polite, accommodating, and perhaps a bit shy.
But dig a little deeper, and you quickly discover the passion and drive that brought the 31-year-old Frost School doctoral graduate across the world from her native Taiwan to the United States, where she has powered through multiple degrees and competitions. Last fall, Weng became one of just two piano Fellows at the New World Symphony (NWS) in Miami Beach, the renowned training orchestra for young pre-professional classical musicians.
“Music for me is like air,” said Weng, who graduated last December. “I love performing and playing for people. It’s still nerve-wracking for me. But I always get excited. I think the mix of nerves and excitement is what keeps me going. I never lose my passion for performing.”
Associate Professor Naoko Takao, chair of the Frost School’s keyboard performance department and one of Weng’s mentors, said her former student constantly pushed herself to try new things and take advantage of everything the program offered. “I tell my students that in order to seize an opportunity, one has to be prepared,” Takao said. “Shih-Man took this advice seriously and applied herself to many opportunities while she was a student, beyond what was required. I think she represents the best of what the Frost School has to offer, and she built herself ready for the opportunity at New World.”
Weng’s classical music-loving parents started her with piano lessons when she was six and quickly noticed that she always wanted to practice, and constantly begged her mother to listen. They moved her into Taiwan’s demanding music education system for children, where Weng also studied cello and composition. At 16, she went to a summer program in Salzburg, Austria, where she won the Young Talent Piano Competition, and a Boston Conservatory professor urged Weng to come audition. It was snowing when Weng arrived in the New England city, and her father, who accompanied her, was nervous. His daughter was not. “I was so ready,” she said. “I was not afraid of new things or challenges.”
Weng completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in keyboard performance at Boston Conservatory (now part of the Berklee School of Music), where she also became the first student in the school’s history to win the Piano Honors Competition four years in a row and to win three top prizes at the W. Churchill Scholarship Piano Competition. She went on to get an artist certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2019.
Thinking that she would like to be able to teach as well as perform and compete, Weng applied to multiple graduate programs. When she visited the Frost School, she was captivated by a lesson with Professor Kevin Kenner, the famous pianist and Chopin interpreter. “It felt like he was there to inspire me,” Weng said. “We talked about poetry, literature, music. It wasn’t just playing piano. So I thought I would love to come here.” She was accepted and awarded a full scholarship and a teaching assistant position.
Weng says her experience at the Frost School fulfilled that welcoming impression. “The dynamic between the piano faculty and students is not just student-teacher,” she said. “They nurture you; they care about you so much. It’s a really friendly and caring environment that helped me become who I am today.”
The supportive atmosphere extended to her fellow students. “Our studio is a great environment for pianists to be inspired,” Weng said. “Most of us are good friends. People play for each other, help each other out, and help shape each other’s musicality. We talk about life and not just about school. It was really healthy, and it inspired me a lot.”
At the Frost School, Weng participated in the 2022 Frost Chopin Academy and won the Frost School of Music Concerto Competition. She focused on classical and romantic repertoire. However, one of her most impactful experiences here was playing with associate professor and percussion studies director Svet Stoyanov’s percussion ensemble, which frequently performs contemporary and experimental music. Weng recalls that when she first talked to Stoyanov, she was startled by his intensity. “He said if you join us, I want you to have a full commitment; it will take 100% of your musicianship. This will be an amazing journey for you. Are you ready?” Weng said. “Afterwards, I was like, wow, this is a lot. But he is so passionate, and I like that.”
Playing works by the likes of Steve Reich and George Crumb inspired her and helped prepare her for the extensive contemporary repertoire at NWS. “Working with them opened this door to contemporary music for me,” Weng said. “I was challenged in a different way that really helped me become a well-rounded musician.”
Weng auditioned for NWS in early 2023, drawn by a combination of familiarity and wonder. She went to numerous concerts in the spectacular Frank Gehry-designed New World Center for the Arts, with its soaring architecture and advanced technology (the NWS pioneered WALLCAST® concerts, which stream live performances on their exterior wall for audiences in Soundscape Park). Friends from the Frost School sometimes substituted there, and friends from previous schools were already fellows. When she was accepted, she read the email several times before absorbing the news. “I thought, ‘this is unreal, I did it,’” Weng said.
Now in her second year as an NWS fellow, Weng is dreaming of her next stage. She wants, essentially, to do it all. “I’m not restricting myself,” she said. “I love being part of a larger symphonic sound, everyone playing together with the same musical goal. It would be great to get an orchestral job. But I don’t want to give up my chamber or solo playing because I’ve been cultivating that my whole life. I want to do more.”
