Dylan Shih Wu is a 16 year old who began his cello studies at age three. At age 9, he was admitted to the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School in New York City.
Shortly after being admitted to the Juilliard Pre-College, Dylan was selected to enter the 8th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow, Russia. There, as a representative of the United States, he placed in the top 20 and received a special award for being the youngest, at age 10, to make the semifinals.
In December 2015, he returned, at age 11, to the 9th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Novosibirsk, Russia, and was awarded the Silver Medal and Laureate in the Cello Section. He remains the youngest American cellist to receive this honor. In May 2017 he was invited back to Moscow to perform in the first Tchaikovsky Spring Festival by the Association of Tchaikovsky Competition Stars.
Dylan's accomplishments include placing first in various competitions, including the 2020 International Grand Music Competition, 2016 Juilliard Pre-College String Ensemble Cello Competition, the Golden Key Music Competition, American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition, and the YWCA of Queens NY Music Competition. In 2015 he was chosen as the grand prize winner of the American Fine Arts Festival International Concerto Competition and the International Virtuoso Competition.
At age 10, Dylan debuted as a soloist with his first orchestra - the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra playing Saint-Saën's Cello Concerto No.1. Since then, he has been featured as a soloist with the Allentown Symphony, Chappaqua Orchestra, Sound Symphony, Island Symphony, the Juilliard Pre-College String Ensemble, the Belarus State Orchestra, and the Fujen University Orchestra, and the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra.
In June of 2015, Dylan was invited to perform on NPR’s “From the Top” radio program, hosted by Christopher O’Riley. In October, he was invited again to record a music video with trio Time for Three and has been featured in their Gala Performance in Boston. In 2019, Strings Magazine named this cover of Taylor Swift's ""Shake It Off"" Top Classical Music Cover. This video has over 4.8 million views. In July of 2017 he was invited to shoot a cover of Beatles song ""Here Comes the Sun"" with critically acclaimed Joshua Bell and From the Top.
Most recently, Dylan has been selected as a YoungArts finalist and attended YoungArts week in Miami, Florida. He was also selected as a member of the National Youth Orchestra, sponsored by Carnegie Hall.
Dylan is a student of Minhye Clara Kim at the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. He is a co-principal cellist of the Juilliard Precollege String Ensemble. During his free time he enjoys playing for seniors through Concerts in Motion, and recently was featured in their annual Gala concert at Merkin Concert Hall.
