Jessica Chi started her piano lessons in China at the age of 4. Her first recital was in Shenyang when she was 5. Three years later, she won the National Beilei Piano Competition. In 2015, Jessica’s family moved to New Zealand, where for four years her teacher was the Russian pianist and piano teacher Mikhail Tablis. During that period of time Jessica passed the Trinity College London LTCL Diploma exam with high distinction and gained several first and second places in Piano Competitions. Judges from New Zealand, USA, Australia, and the UK characterised her playing of Beethoven as “a… performance of real freshness and rare distinction”, of Chopin as “beautifully crafted, full of genuinely elegant phrasing, and played with great sensitivity of touch”, of Liszt as “… playing of tremendous brio and spirit full of vitality, charm and enviable lightness of touch. Octaves, flying upwards scales and leaps all dispatched with a rare brilliance and sheer delight in the daring of the Hungarian spirit”, of Prokofiev as “fantastically captured mood with a deep feeling.” Over that time, Jessica was also awarded New Zealand Institute of Registered Music Teachers (IRMT) Scholarships, Alice Cole annual Piano Scholarship for young pianists of outstanding ability and came third at the New Zealand Young Performer of the Year competition. Currently, Jessica is an Auckland University School of Music student, where her teacher is Sarah Watkins. Away from piano performing, Jessica enjoys composing, painting, 3D animating and is a freelance book illustrator.
