Upstate piano duo, Zhanshuo Zhang (16) of Greer and Jennifer Centa (18) of Simpsonville, participated in a new episode of NPR’s “From the Top” podcast airing Oct. 18.
Zhang is a sophomore at Riverside High School and a recipient of the podcast’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award that will help Zhang pay for private lessons and recording equipment to prepare for his college auditions. His other awards include:
- Second place – 2012 Imola International Piano Competition, in the Northern China section
- Second place – 2014 Second Golden Bell National Open Piano Competition in Tianjin.
- First place – 2014 Sunflower Cup and Tianjin First Piano Competitions
- Second place – Lang Lang Peace Cup Piano Competition
- First place – South Carolina Music Teachers’ Association Competition
Zhang was also selected as a recipient of the Laurence Hamilton Morton Piano Scholarship.
His duet partner, Centa, is a senior at Mauldin High School and has also won multiple competition prizes and awards, including first place in the W. Darr Wise Piano Competition, the South Carolina Music Teachers Association Competition and the Greenville Music Teachers Association Competition.
In addition, Centa placed first in the Clemson Young Artist Concerto Competition and the 33rd Annual Carolina Youth Symphony/ Bernhardt House of Violins Concerto Competition. She has also performed with the Clemson University Orchestra and alongside the Carolina Youth Symphony.
Centa and Zhang were among a select group of young musicians who performed and participated in the podcast. The other performers included:
- Violinist Amaryn Olmeda (13) of Loomis, California
- Bassoonist Sam D’Amico (17) of Portland, Maine
- Flutist Lauren Kim (16) of Ridgefield, Connecticut
- Violinist Célina Béthoux (17) of Shaker Heights, Ohio
In addition to appearing on the radio broadcast, all musicians have completed “From the Top’s” online learning curriculum and participated in a community engagement performance with Seacrest Studios at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
The broadcast will air on NPR stations nationwide. It will be also available at fromthetop.org or on the program’s podcast.
