A formidable and versatile pianist, Julia Hsu has performed at major music festivals in the USA, Germany, England, Spain, Austria, Japan, Hong Kong and China. Originally from Taiwan, Ms. Hsu spent her adolescent years in England, studying at The Purcell School for young musicians with Patsy Toh, wife of renowned pianist Fou Ts'ong. She holds MMus, Dip RAM, MA Degrees in performance from the Royal Academy of Music, London. Ms. Hsu also holds the Soloklasse Diplom from the Hannover Hochschule für Musik und Theater, under the guidance of Matti Raekallio.
An enthusiastic chamber musician and song accompanist, Ms. Hsu was a Piano Fellow at Bard College Conservatory of Music, NY, where she worked closely with the Vocal Arts program under the direction of American soprano Dawn Upshaw. Ms. Hsu was a piano duo partner with the late American pianist Peter Serkin. They performed four-hand and two-piano repertoire extensively in major music festivals, such as Ravinia Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest and Rockport Music Festival in the USA, Ruhr Piano Festival in Germany and Oxford Piano Festival in England.
Ms. Hsu made her Japan debut in 2016 with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor Oliver Knussen and pianist Yuji Takahashi, in a Takemitsu memorial concert at Opera City, Tokyo. She performed in the 2017 and
2018 "Atarashii-mimi" music series in Tokyo, and premiered Mr. Takahashi's
works <Dream Butterfly>, <Encounter. Crossroad. Labyrinth.> written for her.
Ms. Hsu also appeared as a soloist in the Rokkatei recital series in Hokkaido and collaborated with Japanese mezzo soprano Mutsumi Hatano and dancer Aki Tsujita. Their live performance at Oji Hall, Tokyo was broadcasted by NHK.
In recent year Ms. Hsu has recorded music by Yuji Takahashi, David Hicks and Craig Pepples, published by Open Space publication. In 2019 she began her Beethoven recital series <Crossing Over. Beethoven> at the National Recital Hall, Taipei, featuring Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and selected works by 20th/21st century composers.