Video Game Pianist - Early Life

Early Life

Born in Hong Kong to Chinese and Japanese parents, Leung moved to California when he was three years old and began taking interest in the piano at the age of 4 when, after hearing his sister play, he began imitating songs. His parents noticed his potential and enrolled him in piano lessons.

By the late 1990s, Leung had developed into a talented musician, placing first two times at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, once in 1998 and once in 2000, and placing third at the 2002 Oberlin Piano Festival. Leung made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003 at the age of 16 in the Isaac Stern Auditorium, performing Mendelssohn's Concerto No. 1 - Presto.

In 2004, as a high school senior at University High School, Leung put two of his passions — piano and videogames — together, listening to the music of Super Mario repetitively so he could arrange it for piano. On 2 July 2004, the video he and a friend had created of him performing songs from the Super Mario Bros. series blindfolded debuted on eBaum's World and later appeared on other websites.

Leung graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale School of Music. Leung has several goals he wishes to accomplish: promote and elevate the image of video game music, enhance the piano’s image so that it will become a more mainstream instrument, and to help increase awareness of classical music .