Khanh Nhi Luong
Praised as “a rising star of exceptional sensitivity and imagination,” Vietnamese pianist Khanh Nhi Luong won Third Prize and The Lady Roslyn Lyons Bronze Medal at the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition. Recognized for her vivid artistry and commanding stage presence, she is a current recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust. Her highly anticipated debut album will be released by Signum Records in June 2027, marking an exciting new chapter in her career.
Highlights of her 2025/26 season included debut performances at London’s Wigmore Hall and The Venue in Leeds, as well as soloist appearances with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The 2026/27 season will feature high-profile debut performances at Tokyo’s Musashino Civic Culture Recital Hall, Chipping Campden Music Festival (UK)), Seoul’s Lotte Concert Hall, and the Palermo Classica Festival (Italy). Khanh Nhi will also make her debut as a soloist with the Ipswich Symphony Orchestra, the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra, and the PAPA Youth Orchestra. An enthusiastic advocate for cultural diversity and new music, Khanh Nhi co-founded the Lunar New Year Piano Concert Series, which showcases music by Asian composers. The series has toured extensively across the United States (New York, Boston, Ann Arbor, Dexter) and Canada (London, Toronto).
She actively collaborates with renowned musicians and ensembles, having worked with violinists Ida Kavafian, Hye-jin Kim, Elena Urioste, and Lorenz Gamma, cellist Adrian Brendel, as well as performing contemporary music with the ensemble Hand Werk. Her previous orchestral engagements include performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun Symphony Orchestra, appearing under the batons of Kenneth Kiesler, Domingo Hindoyan, Jayce Ogren, and Olivier Ochanine.
Prior to her Bronze Medal at The Leeds, Khanh Nhi garnered numerous accolades. These include prizes at the Yong Siew Toh Concerto Competition (2017), the Lee University International Piano Competition (2021), the MTNA National Piano Competition (2023), and the Sicily International Piano Competition (2023), which awarded her a five-concert tour across Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Following her participation in the 2023 Telekom Beethoven Piano Competition, she was invited for a solo recital at the prestigious Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
Born and raised in a musical family, Khanh Nhi began playing the piano at the age of four. In 2014, she was the sole candidate selected from Southeast Asia to receive a full scholarship to study at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, where she performed across Austria, Germany, and Denmark. She later earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance on full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore), followed by two Master of Music degrees at the University of Michigan, where she also completed her Doctor of Musical Arts. Her teachers include Lan Huong Ngo, Prof. Otto Niederdorfer, Prof. Thomas Hecht, and Prof. Christopher Harding.
Having developed a deep bond with the city following her success at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Khanh Nhi has relocated to the UK and is now based in Leeds.
