‘As a young music student, I felt warmly welcomed’
Xiaowen Shang is a London based pianist and harpsichordist from China. She joined the orchestra in 2022 while studying under Joanna MacGregor at the Royal Academy of Music; she completed her Masters with distinction in 2024 and remains at the Academy as a PhD candidate.
Nominated as one of BBC Music Magazine’s Rising Stars of 2024, Xiaowen’s recent career highlights include winning the First Prize of 2025 Prix Annelie de Man in Netherlands and performing at the Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland with her trio, Temporal Harmonies Inc. (THI). Her debut album, Music of Silence, has been featured on seven Apple Music playlists and received positive reviews from various broadcast channels, including BBC Radio 3, Scala Radio and Radio Kraków Kultura.
Xiaowen joined BPO’s Spring Forwards programme when the scheme was launched in 2025. She says, ‘As a young music student, I felt warmly welcomed by the friendly, collaborative atmosphere. . .BPO makes my dream of a career accessible and sustainable – extremely crucial to any young musician. The new Spring Forwards scheme is very exciting, and I’m honoured to be a part of it.”