Congratulations to Zhengyi Huang!   

He’s the talented pianist who will grace the stage of Whiting Auditorium at the February 15 Flint Symphony Orchestra concert, a reward for winning the 2024 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition hosted by the St. Cecilia Society last March. One of 20 impressive contestants, Huang won the competition with his performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 in F# minor, Op. 1 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and his prize included $6000 and the opportunity to perform as a guest artist with the FSO. He’ll be putting the “piano” in Piano, Polka & Pointe, as he performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 at the concert, which also features pieces by Johann Strauss, Jr. and Tchaikovsky.  

Huang has a bachelor’s degree in music from Rice University, master’s degrees in piano performance and chamber music from the University of Michigan and has returned to the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University to pursue a post-graduate artist diploma. He moved from his home in Shenzhen, China to the United States at 14 years old to study piano privately with Dr. Jay Hershberger and has since won several international piano competitions.  

The adjudicators for the 2024 Byrd competition, who included pianists Kara Huber, Jennifer Muñiz and Ralph Votapek, concurred that it was perhaps the most competitive contest to date, and Huang’s victory was well deserved.  

Our thanks to the St. Cecilia Society and the many volunteers who made the important event as beautiful and seamless as ever. We look forward to this year’s competition on March 1, which will feature some very impressive emerging string players. The competition will take place at Dort Music Center, and finalists will compete in a public performance at MacArthur Recital Hall that evening.