Lucy Zeng

Recipient of the Richard & Maryan F. Chapin Scholarship

As a pianist growing up in New Zealand, Lucy Zeng was a featured artist in NZ Music Month 2020. Her national competition successes included 2nd prize at the NZ Mazda Foundation Young Performer of The Year 2008, Lewis Eady Charitable trust’s National Award Emerging Artists series in 2011. Her international successes included 3rd prize and Sonata prize and people’s choice award at the 2010 and 2014 Kerikeri International Piano Competitions, Semi-finalist and encouragement award winner at the 1st Australian International Chopin Competition and participation in the prestigious Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan. In 2015 she was awarded the SOUNZ prize at the New Zealand Wallace National Piano Competition.

As a passionate and versatile collaborative pianist, Lucy regularly performs recitals with students from renowned faculty members and their studios at the Jacobs School of Music. Her highlights include collaborating with Dale Clevenger in the horn studio recital. From June to August 2019 Lucy worked at the Interlochen Arts Camp as a collaborative pianist, collaborating with students in numerous student concerts, recitals and masterclasses with members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She also has experience working as a ballet pianist with IU Ballet, she was a rehearsal pianist for the production of Prokofiev’s Cinderella and will be working with IU Ballet again in Fall 2021 playing Philip Glass’s Four Movements for Two Pianos.

Having a special interest in playing New Music, Lucy performed “Wanderlust” for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion composed by Josiah Tayag Catalan at the National Student Composers Conference 2018.

Lucy is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in collaborative piano and has studied under Anne Epperson, Kevin Murphy, Charles Prestinari and Aram Arakelyan. She has been an associate instructor at the Jacobs School of Music since 2017. Before pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in collaborative piano Lucy earned a Masters degree in solo piano at the Jacobs School of Music in 2018, studying under Edward Auer.