Roger Shen, 17, piano

On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature 17 year old pianist Roger Shen. Roger is from Northbrook, IL, and he currently attends Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. Roger’s current primary piano teacher is Dr. Jon Sakata at Exeter. He has participated in programs such as the New England Conservatory’s (NEC) Advanced Piano Seminar, the Southeastern Piano Festival, the International Institute for Young Musicians, Aloha International Piano Festival, and Cooper Piano Festival. Roger started to learn piano when he was about seven. At age nine, he gave his first public performance at the Northbrook Library for their Parisian Salon. Roger performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 15 and No. 23 with the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Lawrence Rapchak in 2013 and 2014 respectively. He also performed with the Midwest Young Artist Symphony Orchestra, Hawaii Youth Symphony Orchestra, MostArts Symphony Orchestra, and Phillips Exeter Academy Symphony Orchestra. Roger has performed twice at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall. Roger participated in several piano competitions. He was one of the 23 contestents for the first ever Cliburn International Junior Piano Competion in Fort Worth, TX in 2015. His awards include 2016 National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention in Music Instrument/Piano, First Place at the 2013 Music Teachers National Association New Hampshire Senior Piano Competition, and First Place at the 2012 Music Teachers National Association Illinois Junior Piano Competition. His awards from the Walgreens National Concerto Competitions include Overall Winner of Open Division, Winner of the Junior Piano Open Division, and Winner of the Early Music Category of the Junior Piano Open Division. He was also awarded First Place at the Aloha International Concerto Competition, First Place at the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, First Place at the American Fine Arts Piano Competition, and First Place at the Chicago Steinway Young Artists Competition. Additional awards include prizes from the Sejong Piano Competition, Chopin Youth Piano Competition (WI), and the Society of American Musicians Piano Competition.