“Absolutely Incredible! Cheung adds a tasty amount of musical nuances that Bach would have likely approved of had he heard today’s modern marimba.” – PAS Percussive Notes Magazine

“Pius Cheung is a remarkably gifted and accomplished young artist.” – Gary Graffman

25-year-old Chinese-Canadian marimbist Pius Cheung won First Prize in the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and will give debut recitals during the 2008-2009 season in the Young Concert Artists Series at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as well as his Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum debut in Boston. At the Auditions, he was also awarded the Miriam Brody Aronson Award, the Brownville Concert Series Prize (NE), the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation Award for an engagement in Europe, the Embassy Series Prize (DC), the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center Prize, and the Usedom (Germany) Music Festival Prize.

As one of today's most promising marimbist and composer, Mr. Cheung has captivated audiences with performances of compositions by contemporary composers, his own compositions, and arrangements of the classics, most notably Bach’s Goldberg Variations. His debut album of the Goldberg Variations is the first and only recording of the work on marimba. The album has received critical acclaim and has aired on CBC Radio in Canada and National Public Radio in the U.S.

Mr. Cheung made his U.S. concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in 2003, as winner of the orchestra’s concerto competition. In prior seasons, he has appeared as soloist with the British Columbia Chamber Orchestra and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and given performances at Jordan Hall in Boston, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Edmonton Recital Society, Kennedy Center, Stratsford Summer Music Festival, Bucks County Performing Arts Center, the V Festival Internacional de Marimbistas, and Zeltsman Marimba Festival. Additionally, Mr. Cheung has presented concerts and masterclasses in some of the world's well known music institutes, including Amsterdam Conservatory, Paris Conservatory, Lyon Conservatory, Juilliard School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Boston Conservatory, Universities of Michigan, South Florida, Central Florida, Illinois, and Boston.

As a composer, Mr. Cheung won First Prize in the Classical Marimba League’s 2007 Composition Competition for his Three Etudes, part of a cycle of Twenty-Four Etudes which he is currently working on. He has written numerous other works for the marimba including a Marimba Concerto with String Orchestra, a set of Five Musical Moments, Sonata No. 1 "Vitanata", Symphonic Poem for solo marimba, two Ballades and a collection of smaller pieces including Etudes, Nocturnes, and Preludes.

Born in Hong Kong, Mr. Cheung moved to Vancouver with his family at the age of 12. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music and his Artist Diploma from The Boston Conservatory. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Cheung is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Vic Firth endorser.