Physician and pianist Christopher Shih has a remarkable dual
career as both full-time practicing physician and actively concertizing
pianist. Hailed by theĀ New York Times
as "an intelligent and thoughtful musician," with "effortless
performances" and "consummate control," he has performed in
major venues in over a dozen countries around the globe, including France,
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Taiwan, Canada, and multiple cities in the United
States. Festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and the Banff
Chamber Music Festival. He has soloed with numerous orchestras, including
repeated engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center
Concert Hall in Washington DC. His performance with the National Symphony on
the Capitol Lawn for an audience of 50,000 prompted the Washington Post to declare, "If Shih is as gifted in medicine
as he is in music, he has some serious career decisions to make. His
performance was fluent, gracious, miraculously light, and a joy to the
ear." Other past orchestral engagements include the Georgetown, Ann Arbor,
University of Michigan, New England Conservatory, Harvard-Radcliffe, Newton, Lancaster, and Paris Garde Republicaine symphony
orchestras.
In 2011 Christopher won the Sixth Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas. Fourteen years
prior to that, he was a press and audience favorite at the professional Tenth
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram raved, "He demonstrated a magical
touch in voicing and a fine Chopinesque rubato...a total sense of style across
three centuries. For Shih, technical control supports impeccable
musicianship." Christopher is also the grand prize winner of the 2008
Paris Concours International de Grands
Amateurs de Piano, the 2007 Boston International Piano Competition for
Exceptional Amateurs, and the 2006 Washington International Piano Amateurs
Competition. His playing and interviews have been featured in television and
radio programs worldwide, including NPR's All Things Considered, APM's
Performance Today, WGBH's Inner Voice, WQXR, WETA, WGMS, WBJC, Radio France,
Radio Classique, Canadian CBC, Taiwan CTV, and Pianist Magazine.
Christopher is currently a board-certified
gastroenterologist with Regional GI in Lancaster, PA. He
received his B.A. cum laude from
Harvard University and his M.D. from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He
did his internal medicine residency training at the University of Pennsylvania
and his gastroenterology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins. He is also
active in community and charitable services, sits on the GI board exam committee of the American Board of Internal Medicine, is a Fellow of the American
College of Gastroenterology, and was named a 2020 PA TopDoc. An avid chamber musician, he regularly performs
with world-class artists, ensembles, and principals
of major orchestras across the nation. In recent seasons he has appeared with violinists Nurit Bar-Josef, Alexander Kerr, David Kim, Elizabeth Pitcairn, Michael Shih, and Scott Yoo; cellists Narek Hakhnazaryan and Amit Peled; clarinetist Anthony McGill; the American, Daedalus, Escher, Pacifica, and Ying Quartets; and the string quintet Sybarite5. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Chamber Music America.