Kasey Shao
2024 GILMORE YOUNG ARTIST Kasey Shao
Born in 2004 in Louisville, KY, 2024 Gilmore Young Artist Kasey Shao started playing piano at age six, and made her concerto debut at age 12 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézét Séguin as the first place winner of the 2015 Albert M. Greenfield Concerto Competition.
A Young Steinway Artist and 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar, Ms. Shao studies with Dr. Ran Dank and Magaret Kampmeier at Princeton University (class of 2025) concentrating in music with a focus on composition while also on a pre-medical track. She is the founder and president of the Princeton University chapter of Doctors Without Borders, an Academic Learning Consultant, and the Music Director of the Princeton Pianists Ensemble. She hopes to become a hand surgeon, helping other musicians continue to do what they love.
Ms. Shao’s numerous competition accomplishments include the Gold Medal in the Classical Music Division of the 2020 National YoungArts Week, and first place finishes at the 2020 Overture Awards, 2020 Dubois International Piano Competition, 2019 Louisville Orchestra Young Artists Competition, 2019 Jack and Lucile Wonnell Young Arts Concerto Competition, and the 2018 Steinway and Sons Piano Competition. She was a finalist at the 2022 New York International Piano Competition, 2021 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, 2020 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and 2020 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Ms. Shao has performed with the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and Louisville Orchestra, and has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cincinnati Business Inquirer, Oberlin Tribune, and Cleveland Classical. Positive reviews include the BG Independent News, “…Compelling… she had her vision, and it was apparent that was most important,” and “…a budding talent from whom more will be heard,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer.