Catherine Chang majored in Classical Performance at the University of Auckland, under Richard Liu.

Catherine starts studying her Masters degree at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in September 2024. She will be learning from the Head of Keyboardm, Ronan O’Hora and Carole Presland.

In 2020, she was awarded 2nd place and the ‘Best Performance of a Classical Sonata’ award at the New Zealand Junior Piano Competition. She received the ‘Best Performance of a NZ work’ in the recent Lewis Eady National Piano Competition this year. Other notable awards include the Piano Trader’s 20th and 21st Century IRMT Scholarship 2021, PACANZ Young Performer of the Year nominations and multiple prizes across NSPAS and SAPACS competitions. She was recently awarded Peoples' Choice Award and Runner-up for the 2022 National Young Performer of the Year award.

She has had performance opportunities across Auckland, including a performance of the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra last year, as part of the Haydn Staples Piano Programme. Recent chamber music projects include Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in D major Op. 23 with APO players.

She was also invited to give a full solo recital as part of the 2022 Lewis Eady Emerging Artists Series and was recently awarded the Janetta McStay Prize for Pianists from the University of Auckland.

Catherine has had masterclasses from Olli Mustonen, Natalia Ricci, Nigel Clayton, Niel Immelman, Ian Jones, Marta Zabaleta, Bryan Sayer, Dr. Rae de Lisle, Stephen de Pledge, Sylvia Jiang, Dr. Joong-Han Jung, Gillian Bibby, and Tom McGrath.

Catherine has been working at the Chiron Music Academy since 2021 – both as a piano teacher and collaborative pianist/ coach for instrumental masterclasses, concerts, and exams.

Catherine is in her third year as a Haydn Staples Piano scholar and was a past Chiron Senior Scholarship Holder (2020/2021).