ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SHENG CAI PIANO

Sheng Cai is a Canadian pianist recently nominated for Canada’s prestigious 2025 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance. Acclaimed for his electrifying charisma, poetic depth, and stylistic range, he has performed across four continents as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Critics have praised his playing as “effortless, with gusto and loving attention to detail” (Buffalo Hives, New York) and as possessing “inner passion paired with Rubinstein’s nonchalance” (Thüringer Allgemeine, Germany).

Since winning top prizes at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition (Concours OSM) and the Toronto Symphony Piano Competition at the age of 15, Sheng Cai has performed more than 35 piano concertos, from Mozart to contemporary composers, with over 60 orchestras worldwide. Recent collaborations include the Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony, Armenian National Philharmonic, and leading orchestras throughout Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, and the Czech Republic. He has worked with conductors such as Keith Lockhart, JoAnn Falletta, Yoav Talmi, Sascha Goetzel, Rune Bergmann, and Marco Parisotto, among many others.

As a recitalist, Sheng Cai has appeared at major venues including Steinway Hall (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston), Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), and leading concert halls across North America and Europe. His performances have been broadcast on Radio France Musique, CBC Radio Canada, WFMT Chicago, and Czech Radio.

An active recording artist, Sheng Cai’s recent recordings of Liszt, Grieg, and Rachmaninoff on the ATMA Classiquelabel have received international critical acclaim. He is also a passionate advocate for underperformed repertoire, championing works by composers such as Enescu, Medtner, Kapustin, Morawetz, Villa-Lobos, and others.

Sheng Cai studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), Juilliard Pre-College, and earned his Bachelor of Music at the New England Conservatory on full scholarship. His mentors include Anton Kuerti, Gary Graffman, and Russell Sherman.

BEVERLY WANG OBOE

Beverly Wang is one of North America’s most accomplished oboists of her generation. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she has served as Principal Oboe of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra since 2013 and is widely recognized for her technical precision, rich tone, and expressive artistry.

She is regularly invited as guest principal and solo oboist by leading orchestras across North America, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. As a soloist, her recent repertoire highlights include Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, Martinů’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, and the Marcello Oboe Concerto.

Beverly’s principal teachers include Richard Woodhams, Sarah Jeffrey, and Mark Rogers, and she has worked under renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Fabio Luisi, Christoph Eschenbach, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. A dedicated chamber musician, she has appeared at major festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, Pacific Music Festival, and Domaine Forget.

Alongside her performing career, Beverly Wang is a passionate educator, committed to inspiring the next generation of oboists through a strong foundation of technique and musical expression.