Michelle Jia Yun Xu

Pianist Michelle Jia Yun Xu (age 20) began private studies in her hometown of Vancouver, BC at age eight. By 11, she made her international début at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and has since performed in Poland, Malta, Italy, Switzerland, France, China, and the US.

Ms. Xu currently studies with Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow at the Oberlin Conservatory, and previously with Kenneth Broadway and Ralph Markham in Vancouver. Additionally, she has worked with André Watts, Marie Josèphe-Jude, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Krzysztof Jabłoński, and more.

As a recent scholarship recipient, Ms. Xu is grateful to the BC Arts Council. She is a prizewinner of the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society Bursary Competition, Seattle International Piano Competition, Bjorn & Lori Hareid Competition, and Pacific Youth Piano Competition.

In 2015, Ms. Xu performed her first solo recital in support of the BC Alzheimer’s Society and continues supporting her community through frequent retirement home recitals and benefit concerts. She has performed and studied at world-renowned summer festivals: International Summer Academy of Nice, MusicAlp, Domaine Forget, Morningside Music Bridge, and MusicFest Perugia. In 2014, she made her orchestral début with the West Coast Symphony Orchestra at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and has since performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Alicante and the Rimsky-Korsakov String Quartet.