Hilda Huang is an esteemed pianist and harpsichord who was recently appointed to the faculty of the Sweelinck Academie at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In 2025 Hilda received a DMA in piano performance and the Richard R. French award for her doctoral dissertation. She relocated to Amsterdam after receiving a Fulbright Award to study Early Music. As an undergraduate, Hilda majored in chemistry at Yale and also received graduate degrees in piano performance. She was the first prize winner of the 2014 Leipzig International Bach Competition.
JMc: How would you characterize your musical style?
HH: Flair, finesse, and forward thinking interpretations.
JMc: Who are your favorite musicians?
HH: Cortot and Richter are up there
JMc: What is your most memorable concert experience?
HH: Playing in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig at age 18 and also in some of the smaller halls in Germany. I once had a memorable lesson with Andras Schiff in Vienna on the stage of the Konzerthaus. That felt like a concert experience!
JMc Of what are you most proud?
HH: Not giving up.
JMc: What do you consider the most important ideas to impart to aspiring music students.
HH: Music is craft as well as art. The practical aspects of playing need to be well-developed, and yet this is not enough. It is only a means to an expressive end. The performer needs to be in touch with a personal experience, and have a more objective awareness at the same time. I have much to develop on both fronts.
And, it is important to remember that this pursuit is fun! This does not mean that we should be flippant when the music is magisterial or majestic. To me, playing the piano is a very intentional pursuit, but I also value just letting things happen. Why this works (sometimes) is mysterious to me.
JMc: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
HH: To be in harmony with others, and to understand myself…working on right brain, left brain balance. This is not easy to achieve.
JMc: What is your current state of mind?
HH: I am sometimes idiosyncratic. This is exhilarating, as I have a massive number of opportunities and options. This is perhaps the best of problems to have.