About
“I wish to break walls down between art genres. My two main passions are music and poetry, and I always put them together in terms of program design and artist statements in concerts and recordings. I think the depth and meaning of our art lies not only in musical textures, but also comes in a more profound idea and design that's far more capable of embodying an event.”
When Xiaofu Ju was 4, he thought a piano was a toy and asked for one as a birthday present. He immediately fell in love with the instrument and began lessons; he went on to study at Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He met Jörg Demus in 2018 and credits the legendary pianist with his inspiration to pursue “lifelong artistry,” saying he “revealed the real magic of art to me.” His dedication took him to The Juilliard School to study with Yoheved Kaplinsky (bachelor’s and master’s) and then to Germany where he’s pursuing an artist diploma at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover with Arie Vardi. He also receives private mentorship from Nicolas Namoradze.
His already colorful artistic career has included performances across Europe, Asia, and North America. Some highlights include his orchestral debut at the age of 14 with the Shanghai Philharmonic; concerts at the Wiener Musikverein, Salzburg Festspielhaus, Berliner Philharmoniker Kammermusiksaal, Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, China National Centre for the Performing Arts, and Verbier Eglise; soloist for the China Philharmonic Orchestra 2023 season opener; his Carnegie Hall debut last year; and an appearance with China's NCPA Orchestra this season. A true advocate of contemporary music, he had the honor of giving the Chinese premieres of Philip Glass’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, the U.S. premiere of Xiaogang Ye’s Second Symphony, and the world premiere of Elise Arancio’s Infinite Juke. Xiaofu released his debut album Waldeinsamkeit with NCPA Classics in March 2025.
A lover of all art forms, he is also an avid poet with two published collections of poems. In 2021, he premiered composer A Bu’s Three Sketches, which were based on three of his original poems. Xiaofu was awarded the China–Austria Cultural Exchange Ambassador by the mayor of Salzburg and has been appointed as visiting artist of Capital College of the Arts, Management and Technology in Singapore. When asked where he draws inspiration, the poet not surprisingly says in his most recent book The Late Sound: “Life. I never struggle with inspirations... ‘these poems are what came to me when even the moonlight failed.'”