Lancaster International Piano Festival Concert 04/09

Spring Concert

Xiaopei Xu, piano

XIAOPEI XU, PIANIST

“A sensitive pianist and talented artist.” — Martha Argerich

Hailed by the Boston Music Intelligencer as “a spellbinding and expressive pianist”, Xiaopei Xu

has been featured as a soloist on three continents, striving for creativity in her artistic expression.

She made her Boston Symphony Hall debut in 2018, performing Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 in

E Minor with Maestro Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops.

Xu has received international acclaim with top prizes at the New York International Piano

Competition, Oberlin International Piano Competition, Tureck International Bach Competition,

Richmond Piano Competition and the Washington D.C. International Young Artist Competition.

She has also performed at major festivals including Pianofest in the Hamptons, PianoTexas,

Banff Music Centre, Sarasota Music Festival, Russia Young Artist Festival, and the Walnut Hill

Music Festival where she later served as a teaching assistant in 2015 and 2016. Xu has been

invited regularly to give masterclasses and lectures in Nanjing and several other cities in China.

Having performed the Goldberg Variation at the age of seventeen, Bach holds a special place in

Xu’s repertoire. Following her recent concert at the Gardner Museum in Boston, BMI reviewed

her as such, “I have not heard better rhythmic strength, voice clarity, and drive than this […] with

Bach playing like this, she placed a prominent marker.” Xu is also passionate about

contemporary music and collaborating with living composers.

In addition to her musical endeavors, Xu integrates her love for visual arts with music, creating

multidisciplinary collaborations as a way to enhance the artistic experience. A painter herself, she

has been commissioned for several installations and collaborative projects. Xu created a

combined art and concert experience at the Germany Society of Pennsylvania, as well as an

exhibition of her artwork in “The Seven Deadly Sins,” an interdisciplinary concert at the New

England Conservatory. Collections of her drawings have been published by the Clara Haskil

Competition’s Jeune Critique.

Xu holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University, Master’s degree from Yale

University and Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. Her principal

teachers include Boaz Sharon, Hung-Kuan Chen, Xun Pan and Meng-Chieh Liu. She has also

worked with influential musicians such as Claude Frank, Richard Goode, Andrea Bonatta,

Russell Sherman, and Paul Badura-Skoda.