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Artist
Vienna Teng
12+ albums
female vocalistspianosinger-songwriterindiefolk
about
Vienna Teng / 史逸欣 (born Cynthia Yih Shih on October 3, 1978) is a Taiwanese American pianist and singer-songwriter based in New York City. She began studying classical piano at the age of 5. She took her stage name “Vienna” from the Austrian city famous for its musical history, and “Teng” from the surname of famous Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. Teng’s musical style incorporates folk, pop, classical piano, and a cappella influences. She uses piano as her primary instrument and charges her lyrics with emotion, narrative, and personal history. Teng is a baseline alto but sings over a wide range. Reaching the national spotlight at the end of 2002, pianist Vienna Teng had been an important part of the California singer/songwriter scene for a few years before then. A pianist since the age of five, Teng took piano lessons before moving on to improvisation. Writing feverishly throughout her youth, she eventually had a full album's worth of instrumentals by the age of 16. Going to Stanford to further her education, she released an EP while going to school and recorded most of Waking Hour before she graduated. After releasing the record independently and taking it on the road with her, she scored an agreement with Virt Records and got national distribution in the fall of 2002. Comprised of many intimate songs that detailed the issues of a young adult, her music fell between the uptempo approach of Ben Folds and the theatrical chamber pop of Rufus Wainwright. She followed up i
