American Liszt Society Southern California

Board of Directors

Shu Tran

Board Member

Shu Tran is a Los Angeles-based singer, pianist, and composer.  Shu studied at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) and went on to study at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and der Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna.

Shu performed as featured soloist with the Vienna International Orchestra, and the Bratislava Chamber Orchestra.   Venues she has performed in include Los Angeles’s Disney Hall and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; Vienna’s Palais Auersperg, Stephansdom Cathedral, Grand Casino Baden, and Schönbrunn Schlosstheater; Prague’s Synagogue and Music Academy; St. Petersburg’s Pushkin Palace and the historical apartment of Rimsky-Korsakov; Bratislava’s Archbishop’s Palace, the Nixon Presidential Library, and the Embassy of Hungary in Washington D.C.  Shu was the first place winner of the New York Concert Division of the 2016 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, and now serves on the board of directors of the American Liszt Society Southern California Chapter.  Honored Russian pedagogue of the St. Petersburg School, Pavel Eliashevich, declared that “Shu plays with extreme depth of emotion, yet perfect control, and a profound understanding of the music.”

Shu is the founder of Piano Purpose Peace, a campaign to build musical bridges across cultures to create peace.  As part of that mission, she works with the Rhythms of the Village Project led by Nigerian Griot, Onoche Chukwurah, to transcribe and disseminate traditional West African music. You can follow Piano Purpose Peace on Shu’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PianoPurposePeace

Shu also created a free online music fundamentals course, teaching folk music from around the world, www.pianopurposepeace.com/learnmusictogether.  Shu is a member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California, Pasadena Branch, where she specializes in teaching children with special needs as an ABA-certified teacher.