Leeds Lunchtime Chamber Music 23/24:
Royal College of Music

Ruifan Xuan – piano

Franz Schubert Sonata in B flat major, D 960
Sergei Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op 16: No 4

Approximately 50 minutes without interval

Chinese pianist Ruifan Xuan started her piano studies at the age of four with her mother Hong Cheng, a piano professor at the University of Pingdingshan, China. In 2010 Ruifan entered the Junior Department of The China Conservatory of Music and started her study and training as a professional pianist.

Ruifan has many competition successes. In May 2013, she won the Gold Medal of the Beijing Piano Festival and was invited to play in the festival’s closing ceremony concert. In July 2014, she won the first prize of the Vienna IPP International Piano Competition, resulting in an invitation to perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Estonian Symphony Orchestra in August 2015. That same year, she was offered a place with high scholarship to study at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Irish concert pianist David Quigley. Ruifan graduated with a first class degree from the Conservatoire in 2019 and continued her studies at the Royal College of Music in London under British concert pianist Gordon Fergus-Thompson. She was awarded the Master of Music in Performance in 2021 and Artist Diploma in Performance in 2022.

In October 2022, Ruifan joined the faculty at Royal Holloway University of London, working with the students as their collaborative pianist. She maintains an active career active as a solo pianist, giving recitals frequently in London. Recent highlights include recitals at The National Gallery, St James’s Piccadilly, St George’s Hanover Square and St Mary le Strand. Ruifan is currently preparing for her upcoming solo recitals in London at multiple venues including the Westminster Music Library, St John the Baptist Church, and St Michael’s Highgate.