“For such a young artist, she had a very dignified, mature approach.”
As a soloist
Pianist Huiping Cai is a prize-winner of numerous piano competitions, most recently winning the First Prize and Audience Award at the 2023 New York Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, as well as first prizes at 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.
Huiping made her orchestral soloist debut at the age of fifteen with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Guoyong Zhang in China. Following a performance with the Kazakhstan National Symphony Orchestra, she represented the China National Culture Committee in numerous cultural exchange concerts in Russia and Kazakhstan.
In 2018, Huiping performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 under Maestro David Effron in Florida and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini under Maestro Andreas Delfs in Philadelphia. That same year, she made her Taiwan debut at the prestigious Taipei National Concert Hall, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 10, KV. 365 with pianist Ching-Yun Hu and the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Gernot Schmalfuss.
In 2020, Huiping made her Mexico debut with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestro Neil William Thomson at the historic Teatro Degollado. In October 2023, she made her Carnegie debut at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 .
Most recently, Huiping appeared as a soloist with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Kenneth Hsieh, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral.
Additionally, Huiping has performed solo recitals at the Puffin Cultural Forum in New Jersey, the Coastal Chamber Concerts in California, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert in Chicago. She has also represented her home city, Shenzhen, China, performing in three concerts for the Hong Kong - Shenzhen Youth Music Festival.
Huiping’s live performances have been broadcasted on many radio stations, including Philadelphia’s WRTI 90.1, Rochester’s WXXI classical 91.5, Florida’s classical WSMR 89.1, and Chicago’s WFMT 98.7.
Huiping Cai is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Piano Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, where she has served as a Teaching Assistant to Alan Chow. She holds Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Music Theory from Temple University, studying under Ching-Yun Hu, and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, under the tutelage of Dang Thai Son and held a Teaching Assistantship.
Since 2024, Huiping has served on the piano faculty of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and maintains a teaching studio through the Eastman Community Music School in Rochester, New York.
In addition to her active solo career, Huiping Cai is a sought-after collaborative pianist, performing regularly with instrumentalists, vocalists, and chamber ensembles. Her principal chamber music mentors include Dr. Andrew Harley, Lambert Orkis, Pei-Shan Lee, and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein.
In May 2023, Huiping was featured in a chamber music concert tour of Shanghai and Hangzhou with the Gallant Quartet, performing piano quartets by Brahms and Schumann. Highlights of the 2024-25 season included collaborative recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Hatch Recital Hall, and Kilbourn Hall. In 2025, she presented an all-Brahms violin sonata recital and was invited to perform at Cornell University and the Johnson Museum of Art as part of Louise Farrenc at 150, a celebration of the pioneering French composer, performing a program of her solo and chamber music. In 2026, Huiping presented an all-Liszt vocal recital featuring the art songs of Franz Liszt in collaboration with Eastman vocalists.
Huiping co-founded the Daphne Trio with violinist Chihiro Kakishima and cellist Hannah Sohn in 2024. The ensemble was selected as an Honor Trio at the Eastman School of Music and has performed extensively throughout the Rochester community, with appearances on the Eastman@Washington Square Lunchtime Concert Series, in the Hatch Recital Hall, and at local churches. The trio was invited by the Young Musicians Forum to open the 26th season of its concert series in 2024 and has been re-engaged for the 2026–27 season.
In 2026, Huiping earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music while completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature. During her time at Eastman, she held a full Graduate Assistantship in Accompanying and has served as a collaborative pianist at Nazareth University since the fall of 2023.
