Carnegie Hall · New York
Jury Member Performance, Concert Stars International Music Competition
PIANIST · EDUCATOR · COLLABORATIVE PIANIST
Cindy Xinyue Gu
Artistry shaped by listening, curiosity, and connection.
ABOUT
A pianist and teacher working across performance, pedagogy, collaboration, and contemporary music.
Cindy Xinyue Gu is a Chinese pianist, educator, collaborative musician, and researcher whose work brings together performance, teaching, and cross-cultural artistic inquiry. A recipient of awards and prizes in international piano competitions in the United States, Canada, China, Macao, and Hong Kong, she holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Kansas and the Master of Music in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Her performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Harvard University, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, and venues in Berlin. Alongside an active performing career, she has taught applied piano, group piano, keyboard skills, and musicianship in university, pre-college, and private-studio settings in the United States and China.
ABOUT CINDY XINYUE GU
Performance with inquiry.
Teaching with purpose.
Xinyue’s professional life is grounded in the belief that musical artistry grows through attentive listening, informed curiosity, and independent thought. Her work encompasses solo and collaborative performance, collegiate and private teaching, adjudication, and research.
Her recent artistic work includes an ongoing engagement with the music of Émile Naoumoff. In 2025 she performed Naoumoff’s works in the United States, China, and Germany, including Daydream, composed expressly for her. Her research on Naoumoff’s artistic legacy was selected for presentation at the 2026 College Music Society National Conference.
As a collaborative pianist since 2016, she has worked with instrumentalists, vocalists, orchestral, operatic, and choral ensembles, as well as musical theatre and ballet. In 2025 she appeared in collaborative performance with the St. Petersburg String Quartet in Los Angeles.
View Curriculum Vitae
PIANO STUDY
Thoughtful, individualized instruction from first lessons through university auditions.
Xinyue works with children, teens, adults, serious pre-college pianists, and advanced students. Lessons integrate technical development, musical interpretation, critical listening, stylistic understanding, sight-reading, efficient practice strategies, and performance preparation.
Her teaching emphasizes more than reproducing a teacher’s interpretation. Students learn to listen critically, identify problems, make informed musical decisions, and develop practice strategies they can use independently. Her students have been admitted to leading music institutions, including Manhattan School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and Mannes School of Music.
LEVELSBeginning through advanced
FORMATPittsburgh in-person & online
LANGUAGESEnglish & Mandarin Chinese
PREPARATIONRecitals · competitions · university auditions
SELECTED PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
On stage
Walt Disney Concert Hall · Los Angeles
Golden Classical Music Competition Winner’s Recital
Lehman Hall · Harvard University
U.S. premiere program featuring works by Émile Naoumoff
Curtis Theatre · Los Angeles
Collaborative performance with the St. Petersburg String Quartet
Shanghai Oriental Art Center · Shanghai
Guest Artist, Shanghai International Forte Yearly Music Festival
Berlin · Germany
Guest artist appearances and European premiere of Naoumoff’s Daydream
Anton Vivaldi Concert Hall · Vienna
Anton Vivaldi International Music Competition Winner’s Recital
MEDIA
Selected performances
PRESS & RECOGNITION
“delicate touch” · “flexible pedaling”
Recognized for command of dynamic nuance and rubato in performances of Émile Naoumoff.
— China Daily, 2025Beyond the Concert Stage
A full-length profile tracing Gu’s development from international competition prizewinner to concert artist, adjudicator, and musician engaged in contemporary and cross-cultural work.
An International Artistic Path
An in-depth interview exploring Gu’s development as a Chinese pianist building a career across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Carnegie Hall
Coverage of Gu’s work as a competition juror and performer in the Jury Showcase at Carnegie Hall.
Bridging Seasons, Bridging Cultures
Coverage highlighting Gu’s performances of Émile Naoumoff and her work across the United States, Germany, and China.
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Teaching, research, leadership & service
College Music Society National Conference
Selected E-Poster Presenter for Émile Naoumoff: Continuity, Identity, and Innovation in the Piano Tradition, examining Naoumoff’s artistic legacy through cultural identity, performance, composition, and pedagogy, with a 2025 personal interview as a primary source.
MTNA Invited Masterclass Piano Instructor
Invited to teach piano masterclasses for undergraduate piano performance majors, with coaching in technique, interpretation, tone production, stylistic understanding, and performance preparation.
Asian Classical Music Initiative
Vice President, contributing to artistic planning, international conferences, commissioned works, world premieres, masterclasses, concerts, educational programming, partnerships, artist engagement, and cross-cultural exchange.
INDEPENDENT PIANO STUDIO
Private piano study
Since 2016, Xinyue has maintained an independent piano studio serving students in the United States and China through in-person and online instruction. Her studio welcomes pianists from beginning through advanced levels, including students preparing for recitals, competitions, public performances, and university auditions.
Explore piano study →ADJUDICATION
Jury & adjudication
Concert Stars International Music Competition · New York · 2025
Australian International Music Competition · Online · 2025
Beethoven International Piano Open Competition · Beijing · 2025
Brahms International Piano Competition · Guangzhou · 2025
The 5th Forte Yearly Music Competition · New York · Upcoming, December 2026
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)College Music Society (CMS)Asian Classical Music Initiative (ACMI)
CONTACT
Performance · Collaboration · Piano Study
For performance engagements, collaborative projects, teaching opportunities, or private piano study in Pittsburgh and online, please get in touch.
Guxinyuepiano@gmail.comPiano instruction available in English and Mandarin Chinese.