Kate Shao
Kate Shao, 15, from Albuquerque, is a junior at La Cueva High School and the First-Place winner in piano of the Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition. She studies piano with Tatyana Bayliyeva at the Albuquerque Institute of Music. Kate has won First Prize at the Brooklyn Music Teachers’ Guild International Piano Competition, Golden Key Piano Competition, Rocky Mountain Music Competition, and the 21st Century Talent Music Competition. She also won Second Prize at the American Protégé Piano Competition. Starting at age 11, Kate performed in New York City and Toronto, and three times at Carnegie Hall. She won First Prize at the New Mexico Honors Audition and the Eastern New Mexico University Piano Competition. Most recently, she was interviewed on KHFM and played on National Public Radio’s “From the Top,” America’s largest national platform celebrating young classically trained musicians. Kate also participates in Speech and Debate, where she qualified and competed on the national level in 2023. Her other hobbies include running and swimming for fun.
