Chinese concert pianist Haicong Ni, the host of the China National Arts Fund,
currently is the Associate Professor of Piano at the Piano Department of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, the Master’s degree supervisor, as well as the discipline leader in the scientific research of the Piano Department. Dr. Ni has also served as an expert of the China National Ministry of Education for the Fine Arts.

 

Born in Beijing, Dr. Ni studied at the pre-college division of the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing) in his early years. After receiving a full scholarship to study in the United States for more than 10 years, he received the Doctor of Musical Art degree from Michigan State University, and returned to China as a high-level talent in 2011. Dr. Ni’s solo album-Homage to Beethoven (To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth) was released in 2022 by the top Chinese publication-People’s Music Publishing House; his another solo album-Land of Charm and Beauty-Haicong Ni plays Chinese piano works was released in 2023 by the top Chinese publication-the Shanghai Music Publishing House.

Dr. Ni has won many national and international piano competitions, including the champion of the National Xinghai Cup Piano Competition and four consecutive awards (China); first prize of the National Piano Invitational Competition for the Teachers of the College Division (China); the recipient of the Willcockson Prize in the Arts; champion of the Lakeshore Young Artist Concerto Competition; champion of the Butler Concerto Competition; champion of the Michigan State University Concerto Competition, as well as the Bronze Award of the Chinese International Piano Competition etc. Many internationally renowned pianists have spoken highly of Dr. Ni’s piano performance: American Pianist Ralph Votapek, Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition comments that “Dr. Ni’s virtuoso
technique and artistic maturity enables him to surpass any performance challenges, thus making him stand out significantly above his peers.” Canadian Pianist Jon Kimura Parker, Gold Medalist of the Leeds International Piano Competition shows great impression to Dr. Ni’s concerto performance, as he comments that Dr. Ni’s “solo communication with the orchestra is interactive; his musical nuance is warm and colorful; and his stage appearance is charming.”

In recent years, Dr. Ni has given solo, chamber, and concerto performances, as well as academic lectures throughout major cities of Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanchang, Jinan, Changchun, Shenyang, Harbin, and Nanjing), Taiwan, and the U.S. Since his return to China in 2011, Dr. Ni has published many academic research papers in domestic Music and Chinese professional journals. In 2015, Dr. Ni was invited to give a special academic report on the topic of “Review on and Inspiration from Taiwan Music Education” at an international academic conference - The Fifth Forum for Music Education in the Greater China Region.

 

In addition, Dr. Ni has been invited to judge many piano competitions both at home and abroad, and his students have won many awards, including the National Little Golden Bell Piano Competition, the National Golden Sunflower Cup Piano Competition, the Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition, the United States Open Music Competition, the Hong Kong Open Music Competition, and the Interationaler Deutscher Irmler-Klavierwettbewerb, etc.

In recent years, many of Ni’s students have received full scholarships from renowned universities and conservatories abroad.

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Dr. Ni has studied under Feilan Li, Yuan Ling, Pingguo Zhao, Hua Chang, Beverly
Hassel, and Panayis Lyras. He has also participated in master classes with world-renowned pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joseph Banowetz, Vladimir Feltsman, Stephen Hough, Jon Kimura Parker, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Mikhail  Voskresensky, Ralph Votapek, and Lilya Zilberstein.