Vienna Teng

Biography

Cynthia Yih Shih (born October 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Vienna Teng, is an American pianist and singer-songwriter who lives in Washington, DC. Teng has released five studio albums: Waking Hour×Waking Hour5 November 2002 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1The Tower3:512Momentum5:233Gravity3:404Daughter3:155Between3:356Say Uncle5:277Drought4:068Enough to Go By4:199Unwritten Letter No. 13:3610Eric’s Song5:0811Soon Love Soon4:3812Lullabye for a Stormy Night3:5313Decade and One4:58 (2002), Warm Strangers×Warm Strangers24 February 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Feather Moon4:052Harbor4:243Hope on Fire3:464Shine2:375Mission Street4:306My Medea4:087Shasta (Carrie's Song)3:298Homecoming (Walter's Song)5:469Anna Rose3:0510Passage4:1711The Atheist Christmas Carol4:2412Green Island Lullaby3:17 (2004), Dreaming Through the Noise×Dreaming Through the Noise25 July 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Blue Caravan3:562Whatever You Want4:003Love Turns 405:124I Don't Feel So Well4:165City Hall4:486Nothing Without You3:397Transcontinental, 1:30 A.M.3:4781BR/1BA4:029Now Three3:0410Pontchartrain6:1611Recessional4:05 (2006), Inland Territory (2009) and Aims (2013). She has also released one live album, The Moment Always Vanishing×The Moment Always Vanishing17 May 2010 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 24 tracks1Gravity5:172"Please Welcome Mr. Ward Williams"0:143Blue Caravan3:534"Drool"1:335Antebellum4:326The Tower4:397"The Tower Has a Crush on Alex"1:028"A Hell of a Lot of Driving"0:469Homecoming5:4310"Reminders"1:1511In the Creases5:1212The Last Snowfall3:5413"Chills (Not in the Good Way)"1:5514No Gringo5:1115"Unreliable Narrator"0:5116Stray Italian Greyhound3:5317"A Soundtrack to an Imaginary Film"0:5118St. Stephen's Cross5:0319"Paul Stanley"1:4820Augustine3:1321Harbor4:2222"A Very Opinionated Woman"1:5223Grandmother Song3:3524Idioteque3:33 (2009), on which she is double-billed with her percussionist, Alex Wong.
Teng's musical style incorporates folk, pop, classical piano, and a cappella.

Early life, education, and early career

A native of Saratoga, California, she began playing classical piano at the age of five. Both her parents came from Taiwan. She was salutatorian at Saratoga High School. In 1996, while pursuing a degree in computer science at Stanford University, Teng joined the Stanford Harmonics, a student-run a cappella group.
She began recording her compositions at the studios in Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), intending to distribute her music on campus.
Many of these recordings were eventually released in her début album Waking Hour×Waking Hour5 November 2002 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1The Tower3:512Momentum5:233Gravity3:404Daughter3:155Between3:356Say Uncle5:277Drought4:068Enough to Go By4:199Unwritten Letter No. 13:3610Eric’s Song5:0811Soon Love Soon4:3812Lullabye for a Stormy Night3:5313Decade and One4:58.
After graduating in 2000, Teng worked as a software engineer for Cisco Systems in San Jose, but she continued to write music and perform in her free time.
In 2002, Teng signed with Virt Records and quit Cisco Systems to focus on her musical career. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2013 with master's degrees in science and business administration, she worked at McKinsey & Company full-time in the area of renewable energy.

Waking Hour and Warm Strangers

Teng's first major national exposure was on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition in January 2003, followed shortly thereafter by CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. She has since made appearances on the CBS Saturday Early Show, CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown and The Wayne Brady Show, and opened concerts for Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne, India.Arie, Brandi Carlile, Sarah Harmer and Marc Cohn. Although nearly all of Teng's recordings are in English, Warm Strangers features a hidden cover of "Green Island Serenade", a 1950s Taiwanese classic performed in Mandarin Chinese.

Dreaming Through the Noise

In 2006, Teng signed with Zoë/Rounder. From December 2006 to early 2007, Teng toured extensively in the United States to promote the release of her third album, Dreaming Through the Noise×Dreaming Through the Noise25 July 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Blue Caravan3:562Whatever You Want4:003Love Turns 405:124I Don't Feel So Well4:165City Hall4:486Nothing Without You3:397Transcontinental, 1:30 A.M.3:4781BR/1BA4:029Now Three3:0410Pontchartrain6:1611Recessional4:05. Teng co-headlined with Duncan Sheik and opened for Madeleine Peyroux. She began the Green Caravan Tour in April 2007, accompanied by cellist Marika Hughes, violinist Dina Maccabee, and percussionist Alex Wong, along with opening acts such as David Berkeley and Jenny Owen Youngs. She performed a cover version of Radiohead's "Idioteque" during this time. In 2008, she relocated from California to New York City, and performed in Central Park on Earth Day at the Green Apple Festival.

Inland Territory and study at the University of Michigan

Her fourth album, Inland Territory×Inland Territory6 February 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1The Last Snowfall3:232White Light4:133Antebellum4:434Kansas4:325In Another Life3:326Grandmother Song3:327Stray Italian Greyhound4:068Augustine3:129No Gringo5:2310Watershed4:3711Radio4:1112St. Steven's Cross5:05, was released in 2009. Teng stated that the lyrics to "Grandmother Song" from Inland Territory are nearly a verbatim translation of a lecture that Teng received from her Mandarin-speaking grandmother, voicing her disapproval of Teng's career choice.
In 2010, Teng announced to her fans that she had been accepted into the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Through the program, she received an MBA from the Ross School of Business and an MS from the School of Natural Resources and Environment. During this period, Teng moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she continued to perform and compose music, although she did not tour as frequently as she had before enrolling. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2013, she worked at McKinsey & Company full-time in the area of renewable energy.

Aims

Teng's fifth studio album, titled Aims, was inspired by Detroit and released in September 2013. From September to December 2013 Teng went on a tour across the United States and Western Europe to promote the new material. During this tour, she performed as a trio with Alex Wong and Jordan Hamlin, two other musicians who appeared on the album. The album was released in a standard edition and in deluxe edition sold through Teng's website.

Personal life

By 2018, Teng was living in Boulder, Colorado. As of 2024, she lives in Washington, DC.
In early 2019, Teng announced her marriage to Jacob Corvidae. Their daughter, Arcadia, was born in February 2020. Additionally, Teng is a step-parent to Corvidae's two children from a previous relationship.