Liu Shikun

Chinese pianist and composer

刘诗昆

Born (1939-03-08) March 8, 1939 (age 85)
Tianjin^[1]OriginBeijing, MoscowOccupation(s)Pianist, composerInstrumentPianoYears active1944–present

Musical artist

Liu Shikun (simplified Chinese: 刘诗昆; traditional Chinese: 劉詩昆; pinyin: Liú Shīkūn; born March 8, 1939) is a Chinese pianist and composer.

He began his piano training at the age of three^[2] and started publicly performing by the age of five. He won third prize and the Special Prize of the Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest in 1956 and was awarded a strand of Franz Liszt's hair. In 1958, he shared with Lev Vlassenko the second prize in the First Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.^[3]^[4]

Liu became one of China's top concert performers until 1966, when the Cultural Revolution and the Gang of Four attacked the country; Western music was banned and, along with thousands of other artists, Liu was arrested. He stayed in prison for eight years.^[5]^[3]

Liu studied at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory of Music.^[4]

References

^ 獨家披露公司清盤被掠一億劉詩昆細訴二十年悲慘婚姻 (詳盡版) - 時事 - 封面故事東周網【東周刊官方網站】. East Week (in Traditional Chinese). 2010-07-10. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
^ "Liu Shikun: Don't Wish to Be a Mozart When Playing Piano". China.org.cn. 2006-08-02. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
^ ^a ^b Trelawny, Petroc (2008-06-05). "Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | China's love affair with the piano". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
^ ^a ^b "Liu Shikun - International Piano Competition Shanghai, China". Csipc.org. Archived from the original on 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
^ Jennes, Gail (1979-04-16). "Pianist Liu Shih-Kun Wins Bravos in Boston After Years of Forced Silence in a Peking Prison". People.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.