LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Orinda fifth-grader takes 1st in international young pianists competition


Andrew Gu Photo provided

Glorietta Elementary School fifth-grader Andrew Gu won the Rosalyn Tureck Prize (first prize) in Category Two Oct. 7 at the prestigious Fifth Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition for Young Pianists in New York City. Out of 12 semifinalists selected from around the world and invited to NYC for this category, four advanced to the final round. Andrew won this fiercely competitive category with a flawless musical execution. He performed at the Gala Winners Concert Oct. 8 at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, hosted by Robert Sherman from WQXR.

Andrew started piano lessons with mom, Helen Jung, at age 6. He studied with Sasha Starcevich 2013-16, then Corey McVicar. Currently, he is under the direction of Kaichi Zhu. He won first prize at Grotrian-Steinweg International Piano Competition in 2015, Gold Medal at the 2016 NW Chopin Competition, third prize and Most Promising Young Talent Award at 2016 San Jose International Piano Competition. More recently, he was a prize winner at the 2017 Lagny-sur-marne International Piano Competition and Kaufman International Piano Competition. He made his orchestra debut at age 8, performing Haydn's Keyboard Concerto in D major with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante in 2015. You can view one of Andrew's performances on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTjpYvq6psw.