Hailed by the American pianist and educator Dr. Marilyn Nonken, “Katherine Wenyi Xiong is an exciting young artist whose pianism is filled with color, drama, and honest emotional expression. She brings thoughtfulness and passion to every performance.”

Katherine Wenyi Xiong has performed in solo recitals and collaborative concerts across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is a laureate of numerous competitions, having secured second place at both the Fifth Finland International Piano Competition and the Eighth ENKOR International Piano Competition in England. Additionally, she won first prize at the Charleston International Music Competition, first place at the 37th Annual Graduate Exhibition at Pennsylvania State University, and the Director’s Distinguished Performance Awards at Penn State University for two consecutive years (2022-2023). Moreover, she received first place at the Ann Arbor Camerata Concerto Competition, the Yamaha Asian Music Scholarship Competition, the World Chinese Piano Competition, and the Toyama Asia Youth Music Competition. She also achieved third prize at the “Xing Hai Cup” National Piano Competition in Beijing and the Fifth Shenzhen Piano Open Competition. 

Katherine’s recent highlights include piano recital serials on the East Coast of the United States, a lecture recital at the 2025 Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association Conference, the annual Honors Recital at NYU, the piano recital at NYU Tando School of Engineering, the world premiere of New Music at the annual Tutte Le Corde concert in New York City, piano recitals in the NYU outreach series, an Artist Guest Recital at Capital University in Ohio, and a concert at City Hall in North Carolina. Additionally, Katherine has performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor with the University of Michigan Orchestra in Ann Arbor and showcased the Yellow River Piano Concerto with the Changsha Symphony.

Katherine’s educational contributions include the Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at Pennsylvania State University, the Adjunct Faculty in Piano at New York University, the Artistic Director for the Bay Area Piano Competition, and as an Adjudicator for the Music International Grand Prix Competition in NYC, the Charleston International Music Competition, and the Music Teachers National Association – Pennsylvania State Competition.

Katherine holds degrees in piano performance from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (High-school Diploma, Bachelor of Music, and Master of Music), University of Michigan (Master of Music), Pennsylvania State University (Doctor of Musical Arts), where she won one of two competitive three years of graduate assistantships, and New York University (Artist Diploma). Her principal teachers include Manuel Laufer, Timothy Shafer, and Christopher Harding.