Shitong Sigler

A versatile pianist whose repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary, Shitong Sigler performs as a solo pianist and chamber musician across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She began studying piano with her father at age three and, at six, began studying with Professor Jinlan Jiang of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Under Jiang, she launched her musical career after winning several piano competitions.

Dedicated to advancing new music, Sigler has performed works by living composers and premiered new solo piano and chamber works. She has collaborated with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra to premiere new orchestral works.

As a concerto soloist, Sigler performed George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, Ashland University Symphonic Band, and Wooster High School Symphonic Band in 2023, 2024, and 2025. With the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, she also performed J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in 2021 and Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in 2019. Other recent highlights include premiere performances and a CD recording of composer Stefan Swanson’s complete solo piano and chamber works.

Sigler 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 and serves as competition coordinator for the Franz Liszt International Piano Festival and Competition and the Ohio round of the Music Teachers National Association Competitions.

She has presented her research in piano pedagogy and music entrepreneurship at conferences including the 2023 Music Teachers National Association National Conference, the 2021 and 2019 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the 2020 College Music Society Great Lakes Conference, the 2020 Music Teachers National Association National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, and the 2020 Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Symposium.

Sigler serves on the piano faculty at Ashland University’s Department of Music, where she coordinates the piano area. She has taught master classes and served on the faculty of international piano festivals in Poland, Italy, Minnesota, and China, and she works with students at all levels.

Her students have won competitions and awards and performed on stages worldwide, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center. They have been accepted to universities and conservatories with high and full scholarships and have participated in international music festivals across Europe, China, and the United States.

In 2025, Steinway & Sons in New York inducted Sigler into its Teacher Hall of Fame. She was also nominated for the Steinway & Sons 2023 Top Piano Teacher award and the Music Teachers National Association Teacher Honor Roll. Her independent studio was the first in Columbus, Ohio, to partner with Steinway & Sons as a Steinway Teacher & Educational Partner.

Sigler is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, College Music Society, American Liszt Society, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

Sigler holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, a Master of Music in Piano Performance, and a Master of Arts in Piano Pedagogy from The Ohio State University, where she studied on full scholarship under Caroline Hong and Kenneth Williams. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in piano performance and business economics from The College of Wooster, where she studied under Brian Dykstra.