08/01/2025
Please help us welcome pianist Dr. Xiao Liang to the UVA Wise Division of Music! Dr. Liang will be our Adjunct Instructor of Piano and Collaborative Pianist this year, which is a critical role for our operations. She will rehearse and perform regularly with our students, faculty, and vocal ensembles in a variety of settings. More details about her career to this point can be found in her bio below.
Welcome to UVA Wise, Dr. Liang!
Xiao Liang is a pianist whose performance, teaching, and research activities span the United States, Italy, Finland, Malaysia, and China. She has earned recognition at numerous competitions, including First Prize in the 2024 FSU Annual Competition, Best Etude Award at the USCI Young Artist International Piano Festival, First Prize at Italy’s Maccagno Young Artist Piano Festival, Gold Award at the AACE New York International Music Competition, and Excellent Award at China’s CCTV Piano and Violin Competition.
A versatile artist, Liang performs as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician. In 2021, she was invited to produce MIDI piano accompaniments of Chinese art songs for the 4D Music Pocket Player app, independently performing and editing each track. Her work is now permanently featured in the app’s international library, blending expressive artistry with digital innovation.
Liang’s research explores cross-cultural repertoire, performance anxiety, and inclusive pedagogy. She has presented at NCKP, MTNA, ISME, FSMTA, the MTNA Symposium, and CMS, addressing topics such as small-handed technique, inclusive teaching, and expanding the piano canon to include non-Western and contemporary works.
She holds a B.A. in Musicology from Beijing Normal University under Lanlan Guo, an M.M. in piano performance from the University of Florida under Jasmin Arakawa, and a Performance Diploma from Indiana University with Emile Naoumoff (the last protégé of Nadia Boulanger). She recently received her D.M. in Piano Performance at Florida State University, studying with Read Gainsford and a specialization in Piano Pedagogy under Diana Dumlavwalla.
