Peng-Peng Gong

Peng-Peng Gong (Chinese: 龚天鹏), formerly known as his stage name Peng Peng, is a Chinese classical composer and pianist born on July 3, 1992. Described by The Washington Post as an artist "with the confidence of a weathered veteran and a welcome unbridled quality to his playing", he has established himself as one of the most gifted young artists of his generation. At 18, he has become an internationally active concert pianist and a six-time American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers National Award-winning composer in consecutive years since 2006. He was among the youngest pianists to be officially signed to the artist roster of the renowned Opus 3 Artists (formerly ICM Artists) in 2007 at age 14, and the youngest composer to be signed by the [Lauren Keiser Music Publishing] in 2009 at age 16. Since 2005, he concertized and toured intensely in the North America, South America, Europe, and China, appearing in over a hundred solo and orchestral engagements. He was invited twice, on personal request, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to perform for the United States Congress.

Gong was born in Nanjing in July 1992 and was recognized in his hometown as a rare child prodigy. At age one, he was found humming all the tunes that was sung to him with precise accuracy, just before he was able to identify exact pitches of chords played on the piano at age two, a result of absolute pitch. He began officially studying piano performance at age five with renowned professor Huifang Ye, and won the Jiangsu Province Grand Prodigy Prize at age six in 1999. In April 2001, the eight-year-old earned a first-place audition result and was accepted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music’s Primary School, studying under pianists Jianzhong Wang and Zhijue Chao. After the acceptance he won First Prize at the China’s National Youth Piano Competition at age 9, just right before he auditioned for Juilliard School’s Pre-college Division and was accepted by the jury within the same afternoon, describing the child as “the most remarkable young artist we’ve came across in ten years.” When visa became a problem, two letters each from Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton arrived at the consulate to recommend for his entry.

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