Launching head-first at four years old into an exploration of the piano, New Zealand-born pianist Sylvia Jiang can now be found performing as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic and chasing a piano in a new dance creation across the Kennedy Center stage with equal enthusiasm. She currently serves as the sole instrumental recipient in her cohort of the Artist Diploma award from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where she studies with Richard Goode and Yong Hi Moon. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she has won numerous top prizes at the Hastings International, Kerikeri, Lev Vlassenko, and Wallace National Piano Competitions. Sylvia has also appeared as a soloist with the Auckland Philharmonic, Queensland Symphony, Music Academy of the West, Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, and St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra, giving recitals in New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, and the US. She is particularly interested in multi-disciplinary collaborative work and currently serves as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of non-profit organization Muffin Music. She was invited to be a featured soloist in the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Miami City Ballet where she worked with choreographer Pam Tanowitz on a new commission combining both dance companies. Sylvia is a winner of the 2023 Astral Artists National Competition.