Concise Biography

Pianist Qi Xu endeavors to embrace and appreciate the world by pursuing a multi-faceted identity: concert-pianist, artist-scholar, inter-disciplinary researcher, and finally, intellectual adventurer who travels through the fascinating complexity of our universe. During his undergraduate years at Columbia University (BCJ joint program), Qi (CC’16) explored other disciplines with the intention of facilitating his musical understanding. In particular, Qi was selected in 2014 as a Columbia-Oxbridge Scholar to study abroad for one year at Cambridge University where he read mathematics. With exposure to other disciplines, Qi specializes in approaching piano performance with reason and sentiment combined. As such, during his recital tour in Germany 2015, he was hailed by the German press as “a storyteller and wild riders” (Rheinische Post) who stands in “between drama and charm” (Derwesten). Upon DMA graduation in 2022, Qi joined the Harbin Conservatory of Music (HRBCM) as a full-time piano faculty member. In 2023, in addition to HRBCM duties, Qi was appointed a music theory faculty member of the Tianjin Juilliard school, thus returning to the Juilliard family.