November, 2008

Tomorrow I leave for a trip to Boston. It will be my first time there, and it is always a pleasure when the reason to travel is to play. I will be playing the Poulenc Double Concerto with Christopher Shih, a gasterenterologist and fellow amateur pianist. I’m also looking forward to playing with the Newton Symphony. The thought of two 9-foot pianos on stage with a full orchestra sounds amazing. And crowded! Chris and I have had one chance to rehearse together, and it was at a time when I was still learning the piece, so we have been exchanging emails about musical ideas ever since. I think we’re on the same wavelength so it won’t be an issue on stage.

So I thank Chris for giving me the opportunity to play with him, as this concert is part of the prize he won for the Boston competition. I don’t think you can find a more talented amateur pianist as Chris, which is why I look up to him. If I may be proud for a paragraph, he and I have worked our butts off in piano and school (he...a lot harder than me!!). Our piano teachers (Marc Durand and Robert MacDonald) are long-time friends. We have represented our countries and our disciplines (dentistry and medicine) in the International Chopin and Van Cliburn competitions. I look up to him and it will be my utmost pleasure to share the stage with him.

I’ve included his bio below:

“Christopher Shih is a physician from Ellicott City, Maryland. As a pianist, he has performed in major venues in over a dozen countries around the globe. He has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center on numerous occasions, and his performance with the National Symphony on the Capitol Lawn in front of an audience of 50,000 prompted the Washington Post to declare, “If Shih is as gifted in medicine as he is in music, he has some serious career decisions to make.” Other past orchestral engagements include the Georgetown, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, New England Conservatory, and Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestras.

In 1997 Christopher was one of the top four Americans in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was an audience and press favorite. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram described his playing as “magical,” with “impeccable musicianship.” Christopher was also the grand prize winner of the 2006 Washington International Piano Artists Competition, the 2007 Boston International Piano Competition for Exceptional Amateurs, and the 2008 Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano in Paris.

Christopher graduated from Harvard University cum laude with a B.A. in Biochemistry. He received his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is currently a board-certified gastroenterologist with Maryland Digestive Disease Center. He frequently collaborates with his wife, who is a violinist on faculty at the Peabody Preparatory Institute in Baltimore. “