About
Born in Singapore, Kate Liu began playing the piano when she was 4 years old and moved to the United States when she was 8, where she studied at the Music Institute of Chicago. She made her orchestral debut in 2010, at age 16, with the Cleveland Orchestra, and a New York recital debut a year later. In 2015, she burst onto the international scene after winning the bronze medal and audience prize at the International Fryderyk Chopin Competition in Warsaw; her debut album was then released on the Institute’s label.
She maintains an active performance schedule in North America, Europe, and Asia, highlighted by performances at the Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. Orchestral collaborations include those with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Polish Radio Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Daegu Symphony Orchestra, and Rochester Philharmonic.
Early on in her career, she won first prizes at the Asia-Pacific International Chopin and New York International Piano Competitions. She received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and a master’s degree and artist diploma from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Robert McDonald and Yoheved Kaplinsky.
Competition Repertoire
Preliminary Round
- SCHUBERT Allegretto in C Minor, D. 915
- HOUGH Fanfare Toccata
- PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, op. 84
Quarterfinal Round
- BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110
- FRANCK Prélude, Choral et Fugue
Semifinal Round - Recital
- SCHUMANN Arabeske in C Major, op. 18
- BRAHMS Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, op. 5
Semifinal Round - Mozart Concerto
- MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466
Final Round - Concerto 1
- CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, op. 21
Final Round - Concerto 2
- PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, op. 16
Meet Kate
Performance Videos
Preliminary Round
HOUGH Fanfare Toccata
PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, op. 84
Quarterfinal Round
FRANCK Prélude, Choral et Fugue
Relive the 2022 Competition
Own the 30 live recordings of each competitor’s Preliminary Round performance of Sir Stephen Hough’s Fanfare Toccata.