Elliot Wuu, piano
Praised for his “power, speed and finesse of artists twice his age” (Tribune Star), pianist Elliot Wuu captivates audiences with his colorful tone, sensitive musicality, and emotional depth. A Young Steinway Artist, he was named a 2018 Gilmore Young Artist—one of the most prestigious honors awarded biennially to just two pianists under 22 and is a 2021 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant recipient. Most recently, he was named a laureate of the 2025 American Piano Awards, recognizing him as one of today’s leading young pianists.
Wuu has earned top prizes in numerous international competitions. In 2015, he won First Prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition for Young Artists. That same year, he received Second Prize and the Schubert Prize at the International e-Piano Junior Competition, Third Prize and the Mozart Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, and Second Prize plus the Best Russian Performance Award at the Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition. He is also a 2017 National YoungArts Competition winner, a 2014–2016 Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and a 2016–2021 member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California Young Artist Guild, the highest distinction for California music students.
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Elliot has appeared in major venues across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Carnegie Hall’s Grammy Salute to Classical Music, the WQXR Greene Space, and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. He has performed at prestigious festivals such as the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Music@Menlo, Aspen Festival, Ravinia Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Hilton Head Bravo Piano, and the Chopin Foundation of the United States. In 2013, he was one of twelve pianists worldwide selected for the inaugural Lang Lang Junior Music Camp in Munich, performing alongside and working with Lang Lang. His performances have also been featured on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, NPR’s From the Top, and American Public Media’s Performance Today.
Wuu made his orchestral debut at age 16 with the Hilton Head Symphony, performing
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He has since appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Terre Haute Symphony, Symphony Parnassus, and the Arad State Philharmonic in Romania, among others.
Born in 1999 in Fremont, California, Elliot began his piano studies at age six. He studied with Yoshikazu Nagai at the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College, with earlier instruction from Jed Galant and Rose Chen, and attended Valley Christian High School Conservatory of the Arts. A recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, he earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees under the tutelage of Robert McDonald. In early 2026, Elliot will release his debut album, Onward, under the Steinway & Sons label.