Pianist Kin-wai Shum is the first Chinese prizewinner in the Schubert International Piano Competition in Dortmund, Germany (fourth prize, 2007). He is also a prizewinner in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition (third prize, 1999) and in the New Orleans International Piano Competition (audience favorite prize, 2008), both in the United States. His other awards also include a Diploma d’Honor in the 2004 Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona, Spain.

Among the many venues in which he has performed are the Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City (Utah, USA), the Dortmund Concert House (Germany), the Hamamatsu Concert Hall (Japan), and the historic Marble Hall of Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg (Austria). As a concerto soloist, he played with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra. As a collaborative pianist, he has appeared in the Sarasota Music Festival (Florida, USA) and in the Casalmaggiore Music Festival (Italy). In his native Hong Kong, Kinwai has performed numerous solo and duo recitals, and recorded several times for the Radio 4 of the Radio Television Hong Kong.