ATHENA DENG

Born in Guangzhou, China in 2003, Athena Deng began her piano studies at the age of 4. She made her orchestral debut at 11, performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. Athena has also appeared as soloist with other ensembles including the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, the Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra, the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra, and the Richmond Orchestra.

Athena has won first prizes in the 2015 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition and the 2017 Canadian Music Competition, as well as second prizes at the 68th Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin International Piano Competition in 2024 and the Sixth Canadian Chopin Competition in 2025, along with special awards for Best Performance of a Work by Karol Szymanowski and Best Mazurka. She has also been recognized at the William Knabe International Piano Competition in 2021.

She is active as a collaborative musician, performing often with her sister Corina Deng on the violin and having premiered several new works for piano and electronics by students at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, from where she recently graduated. She will continue her studies at the New England Conservatory with Dang Thai Son this Fall.