Shiqi Luo to Release Debut Album LE PAPILLON Worldwide
Pianist Baoqi Zhu and cellist Qianci Liu join the New York-based violinist on the Skillman Records release.
Violinist Shiqi Luo has released her debut solo album, LE PAPILLON, through Skillman Records, making the recording available worldwide on major streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer, and Pandora. The album features pianist Baoqi Zhu and guest cellist Qianci Liu.
LE PAPILLON began with a simple image. A butterfly accidentally breaks its wings. Unable to return to the sky, it drifts close to the earth, searching for fragments that might allow it to fly again. Along the way, it gathers petals, leaves, even the wind itself-small, temporary pieces that become borrowed wings. During its journey, it begins to notice the quiet beauty that often goes unseen: sunlight filtering through leaves, the stillness suspended in the air. Eventually, the butterfly discovers its own wings once more and returns to the sky. Though a butterfly's life is brief, it lives with remarkable brightness and freedom. This image became the heart of LE PAPILLON-a story of searching, resilience, transformation, and the courage to begin again.
The album brings together works spanning multiple musical eras and styles, from intimate Romantic miniatures to virtuosic works rich in national character and dramatic expression.
Each piece represents an important chapter in Shiqi's artistic development. Some have accompanied her throughout years of study and performance, while others appear in recorded form for the first time. Together, they form not only a tribute to great composers, but also a personal musical autobiography.
The album opens with its title work, LE PAPILLON ('The Butterfly'), an original composition by Shiqi Luo and Raymond Shing Yau Yang. In French, Le Papillon means 'The Butterfly.' Just as a butterfly must pass through transformation before taking flight, every musician experiences years of quiet practice, uncertainty, perseverance, and self-discovery before finding an authentic artistic voice.
Through lyrical melodies and vivid musical imagery, the work follows the butterfly's journey from searching and awakening to freedom in flight, becoming a metaphor for growth, change, hope, and renewal.
LE PAPILLON is not the first collaboration between Raymond Yang and Sunway Music Foundation.
In 2025, Luo premiered Yang's original work Sunway Opus during the Foundation's second anniversary benefit concert, where the performance was warmly received by audiences. Their new collaboration continues a shared commitment to new music and the encouragement of emerging artistic voices.
As a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting young musicians, Sunway Music Foundation believes that the future of classical music depends not only on preserving its great traditions but also on championing contemporary creativity.
The Foundation remains committed to commissioning new works, fostering artistic collaborations, and creating opportunities for young performers and composers to have their music created, performed, recorded, and heard by wider audiences around the world.
About the Artists
Shiqi Luo - Violin
Chinese-born violinist Shiqi Luo is recognized for her expressive tone and poetic approach to storytelling through music. Based in New York, she performs extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative artist.
Her artistic work explores the relationship between music, narrative, visual media, and interdisciplinary performance. In 2025, she completed her concert tour Notes • Echo • Dream, further developing an artistic language centered on memory, imagination, and human connection.
She holds both a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music. She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Sunway Music Foundation, where she actively supports emerging musicians and promotes international artistic exchange.
LE PAPILLON marks her debut recording and reflects a deeply personal journey of resilience, transformation, and hope.
Baoqi Zhu - Piano
Baoqi Zhu is a pianist and collaborative artist. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in China and Europe, working with conductors including Leonid Kerbel. His repertoire includes major concertos by Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.
He has presented thematic recitals such as Chopin: 24 Études and Literary Liszt, and is active in chamber music, including appearances at the Musica Mundi International Chamber Music Festival. A prizewinner of multiple national competitions in China, he was most recently a finalist in the 2024 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition.
Zhu is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
Qianci Liu - Cello (Guest musician)
Cellist Qianci Liu is an active performer, recording artist, educator, and concert producer based in New York.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, she currently serves as Executive Director of the Paulus Hook Music Foundation, the New York Big Apple Music Festival, and the New York International Symphony Orchestra.
Her career has included artistic leadership for numerous international concerts and recordings, including projects presented at the United Nations, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Production & Release
LE PAPILLON is released by the New York-based classical label Skillman Records.
The album was produced, recorded, and post-produced by Wei Wang.
Skillman Records is an independent classical music label integrating music production, visual production, rights management, and global digital distribution into a unified creative process. By combining recording, cinematic video production, post-production, and worldwide release planning within a single production environment, the label seeks to preserve each artist's original artistic vision while reaching audiences across the globe.
Global Streaming
Beginning August 6, 2026, LE PAPILLON is available worldwide on:
Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube Music
Amazon Music
TIDAL
Deezer
Pandora
and other major digital streaming platforms.
A limited-edition vinyl release is also planned for Fall 2026.
For streaming links and additional information, visit www.shiqiviolin.com or www.skillmanrecords.com.
The title track, also called LE PAPILLON, is an original composition by Shiqi Luo and Raymond Shing Yau Yang, marking a continuation of their creative partnership. Luo previously premiered Yang's work Sunway Opus during a benefit concert for Sunway Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports young musicians through commissions and performance opportunities.
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