Xin, Ti

Xin Ti (or Cindy) was born in China. She displayed superb musical talent at an early age and received acceptance from the Elementary Music School at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Cindy won numerous awards in China and began giving a series of solo recitals since she was 6 years old. She received high praise for her participation in the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musician, as well as an invitation to participate in the "Morningside Music Bridge" program at the Mount Royal Conservatory of Music in Calgary, Canada when she was 16 years old. Cindy made her debut in South Korea, performing Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Piano with the China Youth Orchestra. 

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A year later, she moved to the United States to continue her piano performing career with the world renowned American Pianist and Artist Mr. John Perry at Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. During this time, Cindy received the Second Place in the Cincinnati International Piano Competition; Fourth Place (Honorable Mention) in Southern Missouri International Piano Competition (Senior Division); The Semi-Finalist and Youngest Semi-Finalist Prizes in William Kapell International Piano Competition; Winner in Gail Newby Concerto Competition in California, as well as qualification to participate in Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, Russia.  Afterwards, Cindy attended to Texas Christian University, School of Music to study with Dr. Tamas Ungar, and she qualified to participate in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

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Cindy’s repertoires includes the Baroque, classical, Romantic, and 20th-century eras.  For the Baroque period, she shines when she plays Johann Sabastian Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in F minor from the Well Tempered Clavier Book 1.  The Cinicinati Enquirer described Cindy’s playing as “liquid melodic lines and pearl-like pleading tones...with a mechanistic forward drive.”  An example of her mature works both in technique and musicianship include Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 53, No. 21, “Waldstein” and Franz Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B flat Major, D.960.  These pieces are at the heart of Cindy’s repertoire because of the complexity in their compositions and they are the masterworks of the composers.  For the Romantic period, her virtuosity of a pianist is displayed through Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody” in C sharp minor, No. 2 and Frederick Chopin’s “Barcarolle” in F sharp major, Op. 60.  In a review by John K. Toedtman, he says that the music sounded like “cascading octaves, daredevil scales and fistfuls of notes rained from the pianist’s hands and enveloped the audience in lush sounds.” 

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Cindy has exhibited her passion for 20th-century works in renditions of imaginative impressionists such as Claude Debussy’s Feux d’artifice (Fireworks) piece.  Other highlights include performances of Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73, as well as Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, performing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

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In 2011, Cindy received a job position at Blinn College, Texas. Later, she also worked for the First United Methodist Church Choir in Georgetown, while she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Kiyoshi Tamagawa at Southwestern University. Afterwards, Cindy attended to Rice University Shepherd School of Music under the guidance of Professor Brian Connelly, and she graduated with a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance. Currently, Cindy is piano faculty at the Vivace International School of Music in Houston, Texas.