Xinyi Zhang

Biography

Chinese pianist Xinyi Zhang began her advanced musical training in France at the Conservatoire de Marseille, where she won First Prize in the Pierre Barbizet J. S. Bach Piano Competition and received a Conservatoire scholarship. She later continued her studies with Amy Lin at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, where she obtained her Diplôme d’Études Musicales (DEM). She was subsequently awarded the Soroptimist Young Woman Pianist Prize and a scholarship from Soroptimist International. At the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB), she studied piano with Jan Michiels and fortepiano with Piet Kuijken, completing her Master’s degree with the highest distinction in piano.

Following her Master’s degree, Xinyi Zhang pursued postgraduate studies in contemporary music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Under the direction of Bart Bouckaert, she performed György Ligeti’s Piano Concerto with the Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, one of the landmark works of the contemporary piano repertoire.

Twentieth- and twenty-first-century music has played an important role in her artistic development, with a particular focus on contemporary works informed by Chinese culture and aesthetics. Together with conductor Bart Bouckaert, composer Peter Swinnen, and the contemporary music ensemble of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, she took part in a residency at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music within the Sun River Prize International Composition Competition. The residency combined concerts, masterclasses, and a forum on contemporary creation, bringing together professors from nine leading Chinese conservatories.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Xinyi has performed in France, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Hungary, Slovakia, and China. She has also appeared at European festivals and participated in academies including Lions de la Musique aux Alpes, the Académie internationale d’été du Grand Nancy, and Virtuoso & Belcanto in Italy.

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, she co-founded the Belgian commemorative project A Pilgrimage to Beethoven with fellow musicians. Combining concerts, lectures, and activities exploring Beethoven’s musical world, the project included a series devoted to his five piano concertos, as well as an exhibition and concerts centred on a historical reconstruction of the Broadwood piano associated with Beethoven.

Throughout her artistic development, Xinyi has received guidance from internationally renowned musicians including Boris Berman, Malcolm Bilson, Håkon Austbø, and Ian Jones. During workshops and masterclasses at the 1st International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments, her playing was particularly noted by Dina Yoffe, Second Prize laureate of the 9th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, who praised her for “an exceptional musicality, both natural and mature.”

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