Huiping Cai, China

Huiping Cai is a pianist praised for her “dignified and mature approach” (Third Coast Review), as well as for her lyricism, nuanced musicality, and formidable technique. She was awarded First Prize and the Audience Award at the 2023 New York Franz Liszt International Piano Competition. Additional first prizes include the 2022 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition; the 2019 Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut; the 2018 Miami Music Festival Piano Concerto Competition; and the 2017 Philadelphia International Piano Competition.

In 2023, Cai made her Carnegie Hall debut, performing at both Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong VTC Symphony Orchestra, Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazakhstan National Symphony Orchestra, Miami Music Festival Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra. Her performances have taken her to the United States, Mexico, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. She has also been featured as a soloist on WRTI (Philadelphia), WSMR (Florida), and WFMT’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago.

Cai is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Dang Thai Son and served as a teaching assistant. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Alan Chow and serving as his teaching assistant. Concurrently, she is completing a second Master of Music degree in piano accompanying and chamber music under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Harley.

Virtual First Round

Bach: Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, No. 24 in b minor, BWV 893

Haydn: Sonata in E-flat Major, No. 59, Hob. XVI: 49

I. Allegro

II. Adagio e cantabile

III. Finale: Tempo di Menuet

Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G Major, Op. 32, No. 5

Chopin: Étude in b minor, Op. 25, No. 10

Scriabin: Etude in d-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12

In-Person Second Round

Chopin: Barcarolle in f-sharp minor, Op. 60

Carl Vine: Resolve

Bartók: Sonata BB 88, Sz. 80

I. Allegro moderato

II. Sostenuto e pesante

III. Allegro molto

Granados: “Quejas o la Maja y el Ruiseñor” in f-sharp minor, No. 4, from Goyescas

Liszt: “Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi sonata” in d minor, No. 7, from Années de pèlerinage, S. 161

Semifinal Round – Chamber Music

Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in d minor, Op. 108

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Un poco presto e con sentimento

IV. Presto agitato

Final Round

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in b-flat minor, Op. 23

I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso—Allegro con spirito

II. Andantino semplice—Prestissimo—Tempo I

III. Allegro con fuoco—Molto meno mosso—Allegro vivo