Biographical Info

Xinning Zhang is a Professor of Piano, a doctoral supervisor, and the Deputy Director of the Piano Department at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

At the age of ten, she was admitted to the Primary School of the Central Conservatory of Music, where she studied under Professors Liqin Zheng, Yiming Pan and Qifang Li. In 1990, she graduated from the conservatory with outstanding grades and joined the faculty of the Piano Department at the Middle School affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music. During her teaching work, she was awarded a full scholarship to Northwestern University in Chicago, where she earned her Master’s degree in Piano Performance with excellent academic standing.

In addition to giving numerous performances and lectures around the world, she has received many honours and awards, including the Outstanding Teaching Award at the 2013 Horowitz International Youth Piano Competition; Outstanding Teaching Awards in all top national piano competitions in China since 1999; the Conservatory’s highest faculty honour—the “Golden School Emblem”— for three consecutive years (2017–2019); and Steinway Honorary Professorship.

Professor Zhang has long served as a judge for numerous piano competitions both in China and abroad. Her jury work includes the Xinghai Cup Piano Competition (where she also served as Secretary-General), the Golden Bell Piano Competition, the Steinway Piano Competition, the Cadenza Piano Competition, the International Deutscher Irmler-Klavier Piano Competition, and the Weimar Liszt International Youth Piano Competition. She has also recorded and released her own album, Xinning Zhang’s Piano Performance Album. In 2009, her name was included in the Chinese Musicians Encyclopaedia, recognizing her significant contributions to music education and performance.

Over the past 30 years of teaching, she has trained many outstanding young pianists. Her students have achieved remarkable success in major international competitions, including the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists, the Tchaikovsky International Youth Piano Competition, the Arthur Rubinstein International Youth Piano Competition, the Mozart International Youth Piano Competition, the Nagoya International Youth Piano Competition, and the Hong Kong Asian Piano Competition.

Many students have won the first prize in important professional competitions, such as the 2013 Horowitz International Youth Piano Competition; the 2016 and 2019 Beijing Chopin International Youth Piano Competition (Senior and Junior groups, also with the Best Mazurka Performance Award and the Best Polonaise Performance Award); the three major national competitions: the 85th Steinway International Youth Piano Competition (Professional Group B, with the Grand Prize); the 5th Lang Lang-Futian National Youth Piano Competition; the International Deutscher Irmler-Klavier Piano Competition; and the 5th China Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition (also with the Best Collaboration Award and the Outstanding Performance Award for Chinese Piano Concerto in 18-32 age group); the second prize in the 87th Steinway International Youth Piano Competition (Group A); the second prize of the CCOM “School Cup” Piano Concerto Competition (Group A); the first prize in the 26th Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition (also with the concert tour awards, the KNS International Agency Award plus recording a solo CD, the Victor Macedo Pinto Award, the Porto City Hall Award); and the second prize and the Audience Award in the 2024 Xiamen International Piano Competition.