Events

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Time: January 13, 2024, 7:30 - 9:00 PM (Beijing) 

Location: Columbia Global Centers | Beijing

1F Core Plaza, 1 Shanyuan Street, Zhongguancun, Haidian District

Columbia Global Centers | Beijing and the Columbia Alumni Association of Beijing are pleased to invite you to join us for an evening of enchanting melodies. We'll usher in the New Year with a piano concert for the Columbia University community in the region.

This exclusive event promises to be a night of cultural celebration and musical excellence with special performances by Columbia pianists Nansong Huang and Qi Xu, who will present a fusion of classical masterpieces and contemporary compositions. 

The event is not just a musical gathering but also an opportunity to reconnect with fellow Columbians, share experiences, and build new memories. Don't miss this opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the past year while looking forward to the promise and potential of the year ahead.

Pianists

Born in China, Nansong Huang (CC '16) started playing the piano when he was four years old. At the age of ten, he was accepted to The Middle School Attached to The Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 2009, he moved to the United States and was admitted to the pre-college division of Juilliard School of Music. He earned his B.A. from Columbia-Juilliard Exchange program with degrees in Political Science and Music, Master of Music degree from Yale School of music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Nansong currently serves as the Associate Piano Professor at Xi’an Conservatory of Music. 

In recent years, he had won top prizes in many piano competitions, including 1st prize in Minnesota International E-Competition Juniors (2008), 1st prize of the 5th International Piano Competition “Dedication to Franz Liszt" in Moscow(2008)，1st prize and the best performance of Tchaikovsky piece award in the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition for young musicians, South Korea(2009), Special Jury Prize and Special Audience Prize for performance in the 4th Sendai International Music Competition, Japan (2010), 2nd prize in piano competition in Virtuoso & Belcanto Music festival (2017), Steinway Prize in Bilkent Music Festival (2018), winner of the Thaviu-Issak Piano Competition (2019), Etc. He was also the recipient of Luminarts Fellowship in Classical Music by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation in 2019.

In addition, He collaborated successfully with more than 20 orchestras around the world including Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian Symphony Orchestra, and many others. He is also an avid chamber musician, and has performed chamber music in many prominent venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Peter Jay Sharp Hall, etc., with works ranging from Franz Schubert to Leonard Bernstein.

Nansong also appeared in many special music events. Highlights include performance of Brahms piano concerto No.1 with Juilliard Orchestra conducted by world-class pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher; collaboration with Santa Fe Ballet and Aspen Symphony Orchestra in Aspen Music Festival; welcoming performance for former U.S. Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton at Beijing Diaoyutai State Guest House during Mrs. Clinton’s official diplomatic visit to China; Soloist of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka with Columbia University Orchestra under the baton of Jeffery Milarsky; Performance with Lang Lang for UNICEF fundraising and Beijing Olympic celebration; Performance of Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto with Xi’an Conservatory Orchestra in commemoration of the composer’s 150th birth anniversary; and so forth.

Qi Xu (CC '16) endeavors to embrace and appreciate the world by pursuing a multi-faceted identity: concert-pianist, artist-scholar, inter-disciplinary researcher, and finally, intellectual adventurer who travels through the fascinating complexity of our universe. During his undergraduate years at Columbia University (BCJ joint program), Qi explored other disciplines with the intention of facilitating his musical understanding. In particular, Qi was selected in 2014 as a Columbia-Oxbridge Scholar to study abroad for one year at Cambridge University where he read mathematics. 

With exposure to other disciplines, Qi specializes in approaching piano performance with reason and sentiment combined. As such, during his recital tour in Germany 2015, he was hailed by the German press as "a storyteller and wild riders" (Rheinische Post) who stands in "between drama and charm" (Derwesten). Upon DMA graduation in 2022, Qi joined the Harbin Conservatory of Music (HRBCM) as a full-time piano faculty member. In 2023, in addition to HRBCM duties, Qi was appointed a music theory faculty member of the Tianjin Juilliard school, thus returning to the Juilliard family.

Ticket Information

• Columbia Students & Alumni: ¥135
• Plus One: ¥185

*Priority registration is available to Columbia alumni and students, with each member allowed to bring a guest. More information regarding tickets for the general public will be released soon.

Reminders

• This event does not accept walk-ins. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Please check in 30 minutes before the event starts, and we ask that you do not arrive earlier as we are unable to assist with early admission.

• The performance will last approximately 70 minutes, followed by a 30-minute session for mingling and networking.

• Before the concert begins, please turn your cell phone or any other electronic device off, or put it on silent mode. Please refrain from talking or moving around during the performance.

• Please refrain from bringing items that may produce noise into the venue.

• When taking photographs or recording, please ensure your camera shutter sound is off and do not use a flash.

• Please refrain from clapping between movements.

• For any inquiries, please email [email protected].