Scholarship Recipients 2026
Florian Albrecht
Florian Albrecht, born in Hamburg in 2003, received his early musical training in the pre-college division of the Institute for the Early Promotion of Highly Gifted Musicians (VIFF) with Prof. Elena Levit. From 2020 to 2025, he pursued his Bachelor’s studies with Prof. Christopher Oakden and is currently continuing his Master’s degree with Prof. Roland Krüger at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.
He is a scholarship recipient of the German Music Competition, winner of the Karl Bergemann Sight-Reading Competition, and was awarded both the Förderpreis of Freunde Junger Musiker Düsseldorf and the inaugural Special Prize for Best Carte Blanche at the German Music Competition.
As an orchestral pianist, he has performed with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at festivals including Musikwoche Hitzacker and the Baden-Baden Festival, as well as with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Oldenburg Youth Orchestra and the Wernigerode Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
Zhenhua Jing
Zhenhua Jing, born in China in 2002, is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in piano at the Mainz University of Music with Prof. Sae-Nal Lea Kim.
He is a prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions, including third prize at the “Pearl River Fortress” International Piano Competition, the Steinway Sponsorship Prize, first prize at the Second Piano Competition of the Mainz University of Music, and most recently third prize at the 14th Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition in Vienna. He has also received awards from the Rotary Club Kronberg and the Rotary Club Mainz-Churmeyntz.
He performs regularly both in Germany and internationally and is particularly dedicated to chamber music alongside his solo career.
Sunah Kim
Sunah Kim, born in South Korea in 2001, is currently pursuing her Master’s degree with Prof. Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
She has appeared from an early age in prestigious concert series and venues in Seoul, Paris, and New York (Lincoln Center). Her concert activities have taken her to major international festivals, including Chieti Classica, the Clavicologne Festival, the EuroAsia Music Festival, and the DMZ International Music Festival.
As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as the Manchester Camerata, Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic, and Prime Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is a prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions, including awards at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians and the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists (2017). Further distinctions include second prize at the 10th Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition and at the Robert Schumann Competition in Düsseldorf, first prize at the Orbetello Junior Piano Competition (2021), second prize and the Young Jury Prize at the 5th Zhuhai Mozart Competition (2023), and second prize at the 3rd Classic Piano Competition in Dubai (2024). In 2025, she was selected as a finalist for the Liszt Utrecht Competition 2026 and awarded the Michelangeli Prize at the Eppan Piano Academy.
She is a scholarship recipient of the Song Gang Foundation and the Musikakademie Liechtenstein.
Zeyu Shen
Zeyu Shen, born in 2000, is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing advanced studies in the soloist class with Prof. Bernd Goetzke at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.
He gained international recognition at an early age, winning the Juilliard Concerto Competition in 2016 and subsequently performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.
His major competition successes include first prize and the Spanish Music Prize at the Lyon International Piano Competition, sixth prize at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano, first prize at the Delia Steinberg International Piano Competition in Madrid, second prize at the Scriabin International Piano Competition (with no first prize awarded), second prize at the Mayenne International Piano Competition, and third prize and the Audience Prize at the Concorso F. P. Neglia in Sicily.
He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Porto Symphony Orchestra, Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Grosseto Symphony Orchestra, Tsingtao Symphony Orchestra, and Tianjin Symphony Orchestra. His concert engagements have taken him across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
