Zihao Wu entered the Central Conservatory of Music, Piano Academy at Gulangyu at the age of eleven. While in school, he was the recipient of many scholarships including the Yamaha Scholarship. He performed on China Central Television nationwide in 2012 and 2016. In 2017, Zihao entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Dr. Daniel Shapiro. Zihao entered the master’s degree program at The Juilliard School in 2021 as a student of Mr. Sergei Babayan with whom he continues to work for his Artist Diploma from the Meadows School of the Arts in Texas.
At age fourteen, he gave a performance tour in Austria, Germany, France, and Poland, and made his orchestral debut with the Bydgoszcz Symphony Orchestra in Poland. He has since played with many major orchestras in China. He has performed as a soloist with Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Fujian Opera House in 2017, and the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra at the Shandong Art Museum in 2019. At age sixteen, he received engagements to play in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, among other major cities of China, performing the complete 24 Chopin Études. Zihao was awarded a full scholarship to the 2019 Pianofest in the Hamptons, where he was an audience favorite. Engagements followed in New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans.
Zihao was also a prizewinner in several national and international competitions such as Hong Kong Chopin Competition, and the Yamaha Scholarship competition. Zihao received the Sadie Zellen Piano Prize in 2021.