Tiffany Qiu
Born in 2001 in Ireland to Chinese parents, Tiffany Qiu is an award-winning musician, pianist, writer and passionate educator.
First introduced to the piano at the age of 8 by her inspiring teacher Sheila Bourke in her hometown of Sligo, Tiffany quickly rose to recognition after performing Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 545 for the Chinese Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Liu Biwei, during the annual Chinese New Year concert in 2011. She briefly studied with Irish jazz pianist, Bryan Mullen, and was subsequently accepted to study at the junior department of the Royal Irish Academy of Music where her teachers included Dr Hugh Tinney, Professor Thérèse Fahy and Dr Kevin O'Connell. She also took private singing lessons with the late Professor Mary Brennan between 2018-2019, who played a huge role in shaping her vocal foundation, as well as developing her love for working with singers as a pianist.
Ever since making her solo piano recital debut with the Dublin Philharmonic Society at the age of 13, Tiffany has regularly won prizes both nationally and internationally. Nationally, between 2013-2019, Tiffany won top prizes at the Dublin Feis Ceoil, Ireland's biggest competition for young musicians. In 2019, the final year she competed, she took home a total of six first prizes in the senior piano, composition and vocal competitions. Internationally and in more recent years, she was awarded both the UK Irish Heritage Performance and Accompaniment Bursaries, the Dennis Horner pianist's prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers, and top prizes in the RAM Harriet Cohen Bach Piano Competition, RAM Mozart Concerto Competition (best original cadenza), and the Cesar Franck International Piano Competition in Belgium. She was also honoured to have been one of six pianists selected to represent Ireland at the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2022.
As a soloist, Tiffany has appeared with orchestras under the batons of Uri Segal, Paolo Ponziano Ciardi, James Cavanagh and Finghin Collins. She has also enjoyed performing in venues such as the Basilica di San Pietro (Italy) and Carnegie Hall (with the New York Sinfonietta). In London, Tiffany has been invited to perform at the Brazilian Embassy of London as part of their National Day concert celebration, the Princess Alexandra Hall in the Royal Over-Seas League, the Embassy of Ireland, and the Westminster Music Library. In masterclass, she has played for many renowned pianists and musicians such as Joanna MacGregor, Dan Zhao Yi, Sir Stephen Hough, Ilana Vered, Pascal Devoyon, Pavel Kolesnikov, John O’Conor, Max Levinson, Cédric Tiberghien and the RTÉ ConTempo Quartet.
Tiffany has a keen interest in contemporary music and has performed the pieces of many living composers. She was honoured to give the world premiere of renowned composer Dr Kevin O'Connell's 'Measures and Inventions', a 17-movement work for solo piano. In 2020/21, she organised a project entitled 'Beethoven 250: New Beethoven-Inspired works by Young Composers' in honour of the great master's 250th anniversary. It involved a collaboration between eleven pianists and eleven composers from all over the world, and saw the premiere of all the works, as well as an album being released at the end of the year, now available on major streaming platforms. This project was also featured on the RTÉ Lyric FM (national Irish radio) podcast ‘How the World Begins Again’ hosted by leading Irish soprano, Elizabeth Hilliard. Tiffany performed as part of the Manson Ensemble, the Royal Academy of Music's dedicated contemporary ensemble and travelled to the Canary Islands on tour in 2022, premiering several new chamber compositions as well as a solo piece by celebrated Canarian composer, Rubens Askenar, entitled ‘HyperFicta’ for piano and deconstructed flexatone.
As a singer, Tiffany is currently pursuing her Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (diploma) under the guidance of celebrated Lithuanian soprano, Rusne Tuslaite. She also performed as part of the choir in Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall, London, with the Philharmonia Chorus.
Collaboration lies at the heart of Tiffany's career and she regularly enjoys working with other musicians in accompaniment and performance. She has performed in a duo-partnership with almost every instrument of the orchestra. In 2020, Tiffany founded the Arquia Duo with violinist Lisa Archontidi-Tsaldaraki, specialising in music from the 20th and 21st Centuries. Their performance of the Debussy Violin Sonata was presented at the 2020 AEMC Conference in Italy, subsequently included in the book and CD publication (Vernon Press, 2021). They continue to perform a series of regular public concerts mostly in London and throughout the UK.
Tiffany graduated with First Class Honours from the prestigious Royal Academy of Music London in 2023 where she was awarded a merit-based entrance scholarship to study with Professors Ian Fountain (piano), Michael Dussek (chamber music) and Dr Ruth Byrchmore (composition), generously sponsored by the Winifred Christie Trust and the Alfred Knight Award. She served as their Students’ Union President and a trustee between 2023-25, and was awarded the Andrew S Sykes Award for her studentship and contribution to the conservatoire.
Since 2025, Tiffany has been the Vice Assistant Manager of St John's Fulham Music Association, hosting monthly concerts by up-and-coming young musicians. She also volunteers as a pianist at Fulham Palace, adding another dimension of culture to the heritage space.