As a versatile pianist whose styles range from Baroque to Contemporary,
Shitong Sigler has dedicated her international performing career as a solo pianist and chamber musician across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Sigler began studying piano with her father at age three and started her tutelage under Professor Jinlan Jiang from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music at six years old, under whom she launched her multifaceted musical path after winning several prominent piano competitons.

 

Dedicated to the advancement of new music, Sigler has concertized works of
various living composers and premiered new solo piano and chamber works. She has collaborated with Wooster Symphony Orchestra and The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra premiered new orchestral works. As a concerto soloist, Sigler performed George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Wooster Symphony Orchestra, Ashland University Symphonic Band, and The Wooster High School Symphonic Band in 2023, 2024, and 2025. In 2021, Sigler performed J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 with Wooster Symphony Orchestra. She also performed Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Piano and Orchestra with Wooster Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Other recent professional highlights include premiere performances and CD recording of composer Stefan Swanson’s complete solo piano and chamber works, adjudicated the 2024 Ohio Music Teachers Association Midwest District Buckeye Competitions and the Ohio round of the 2022 Music Teachers National Association Competitions. She coordinated the 2023 and 2024 Ohio Music Teachers National Association Competitions, as well as the first and second Franz Liszt International Piano Festival and Competition. In addition to maintaining an active career as a performer, Dr. Sigler’s research and scholarship in piano pedagogy and music entrepreneurship have been invited to present at various conferences, including 2023 Music Teachers National Association National Conference, 2021 and 2019 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, 2020 College Music Society Great Lakes Conference, 2020 Music Teachers National Association National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, and 2020 Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Symposium.

 

In addition to performing and presenting, Sigler is a dedicated and enthusiastic educator. She currently serves as piano faculty at Ashland University Department of Music, where she coordinates the piano area. Sigler has worked with students at all levels, and her students have won numerous competitions and honors, and performed in prestigious stages worldwide. Sigler’s dedication in teaching was recognized as the recipient of the Steinway & Sons 2023 Top Piano Teacher award, MTNA Teacher Honor Roll, and her independent studio was selected as the first institution in Columbus, Ohio to join in a partnership with Steinway & Sons as a Steinway Teacher & Educational Partner.

 

Sigler has been severing as the competition coordinator of the Franz Liszt International Festival and Piano Competition as well as the Ohio round of the Music Teachers National Association Competitions. She is an active member of Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, American Liszt Society, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

 

Sigler holds Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance, Master of
Music in Piano Performance and Master of Arts in Piano Pedagogy from The Ohio State University with full scholarship under Caroline Hong and Kenneth Williams. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree double major in Piano Performance and Business Economics from The College of Wooster learning under Brain Dykstra.