Chinese pianist Jianing Kong has performed to critical acclaim across the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia, and is widely recognised for the depth and insight of his interpretations.
Mr Kong is a prizewinner of numerous prestigious international competitions affiliated with the World Federation of International Music Competitions, including the Leeds International Piano Competition, the Scottish International Piano Competition and the Santander International Piano Competition. He was a finalist at the Sydney International Piano Competition, where he also received the Ignaz Friedman Prize for Best Semi-Final Recital and the prize for Best Mozart Concerto. Earlier distinctions include awards at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition and the Valsesia International Piano Competition.
He made his London concerto debut in 2003 performing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the Purcell Symphony Orchestra at Duke’s Hall of the Royal Academy of Music. Since then Mr Kong has appeared at major venues and festivals across the UK and Europe including Cadogan Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John's Smith Square, Steinway Hall London, Leeds Town Hall, Gasteig, Salle Cortot and the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. His international engagements have also brought him to major stages including Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein Brahms-Saal in Vienna, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Sydney Opera House, Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Symphony Hall and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
As a concerto soloist Mr Kong has collaborated with leading orchestras including the Hallé Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, working with conductors such as Mark Elder, Gergely Madaras, Pablo González, Michael Hofstetter, Peter Stark and Paul Daniel.
In 2017 Mr Kong launched an ambitious project to perform and record the complete piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. The first volume was released worldwide in 2020, followed by further albums in 2021 and 2022 exploring Beethoven’s middle and late sonatas.
Born in Guangdong, Mr Kong studied at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music before receiving a full scholarship to the Purcell School for Young Musicians, where he studied with Ronald Smith. He later continued his studies at the Royal College of Music with Ruth Nye, Gordon Fergus-Thompson and Dmitri Alexeev, graduating with BMus and MMus degrees as well as the prestigious Artist Diploma. He later completed a Doctorate in Performance at the RCM with first-class distinction and was elected a Mills Williams Junior Fellow. He has also received guidance from eminent musicians including Maria Tipo, Dmitri Bashkirov, Christoph Eschenbach, Dominique Merlet and the legendary Chinese pianist Fou Ts'ong.
Alongside his performing career, Mr Kong is Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music in London and Professor of Piano at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He also serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor of the “Wuyin Scholars” programme at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music.
