6 April, 2025

Sweet treats and a nap fuel schoolboy’s piano win

Sweet result… Westlake Boys High School student Shan Liu won the recent National Concerto Competition after eating “a pack of lollies”.

Memorising 100 pages of music was just part of what it took for Westlake Boys High School student Shan Liu to win the National Concerto Competition.
Hundreds of hours of practice and intense focus for 40 minutes were necessary to deliver Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in the final last month. “I also ate a pack of lollies before I went on stage,” the 15-year-old tells the Observer.
He was able to shut out the pressure of competing by following his usual pre-performance routine. “I like to take a nap before I play.” But what helped the most was having played the same piece before, just a week earlier, with the Manukau Orchestra.
“Once you’re in the flow state, every note flows; it’s a melody, it’s not like memorising an essay for an exam, you’re not really thinking.” Instinct and practice kick in.
Shan is the 57th and youngest winner of the prestigious competition for emerging musicians aged up to 25, which has helped launch the careers of previous winners including acclaimed pianist Michael Houstoun and violinist Amalia Hall.
It also carries a $10,000 prize, which Shan says he doesn’t have exact plans for. Putting it into his savings is the most likely option. “I think morally half that should go to my musical education,” he says, before teasingly adding: “I might buy an electric skateboard.”
Shan is in no rush to decide his musical future. While being a concert pianist appeals, he knows it is a tough ask. He enjoys science subjects and English as well as being immersed in the strong Westlake music culture, playing in school bands and singing in school choirs. He used to fit in social basketball, but mostly now relaxes and unwinds by playing video games.
He credits his parents for their support and piano teacher Stephen De Pledge from the University of Auckland for helping develop his talent. He says the Westlake music department has been amazing and he has learned much from his peers and teachers. “My view has broadened.” He has enjoyed trying other instruments, including drums and glockenspiel.

Former Westlake student Henry Meng placed third, behind fellow teritiary music student Otis Prescott-Mason from Wellington.

He practices piano “less than you might think” – around an hour or two on weekdays and three to four hours at the weekends. “I just love it.”
Shan began lessons aged around seven, encouraged by his musical father, who had learned the violin. The family has a Yamaha grand piano Shan says is “squeezed” into their home.
His parents travelled with him to Christchurch for the final. Immediately after performing he says he feels relieved he is finished. In this case, that was followed by the excitement of winning, beating two older finalists he knows from other competitions.
The concerto competition win and another in the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in the Netherlands have been highlights in his career to date. During Covid, he entered competitions by video, but since then has travelled internationally. At home, Shan has performed with the New Zealand Symphony, National Youth Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia and the St Matthews Chamber Orchestra, among others.
He says he picks music for competitions based on what he enjoys playing and deems “cool”, while De Pledge offers guidance on meeting technical criteria. While Shan doesn’t have a favourite composer, the great Romantic Chopin rates highly and last year he was really into Russian Alexander Scriabin, a late Romantic composer.
“That kind of style is very cool, but also very creative. You think you know what’s going to happen, but then it veers off. It’s technical and brilliant.”
The appeal of performing is both personally challenging but also satisfying, he says. “I use the piano as a tool to connect with the audience.”

• A recording of Shan’s winning performance will be broadcast on RNZ Concert.

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