Ningxin Zhan, 22, is a Chinese classical pianist committed to sharing music with diverse audiences worldwide. She began piano studies at the age of 5 and was admitted at 9 to the Middle School affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she received multiple scholarships. Ningxin currently studies under Dr. Steven Spooner and Professor Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

She was awarded Second Prize at the 2023 New York Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, which led to her Carnegie Hall debut at both Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium, where she performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Ningxin also won First Prize and the Best Scriabin Performance Award at the 2019 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, after which she performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Gulf Coast Symphony in 2022. Additional prizes include top honors at the 2023 Jacob Flier Piano Competition, the 2022 Yale Gordon Competition, the 2020 Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition, and the 2021 Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition.

A recipient of the 2023 Clara Wells Scholarship from the American Matthay Association, Ningxin has participated in leading summer programs such as the Aspen Music Festival, PianoTexas, Sarasota Music Festival, Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, and PianoSummer at New Paltz. She has studied in master classes with Richard Goode, Robert Levin, Jerome Lowenthal, and Hung-Kuan Chen. As a chamber musician, she collaborates closely with cellist Michael Kannen.