Biography (English)

Unison Piano Duo

Dr. Xiao Hu and Dr. Du Huang are both tenured piano faculty at Luther College, and perform widely together as the Unison Piano Duo. Their performances have received enthusiastic responses from critics and audiences around the world. The New York Concert Review wrote “…fleet and sparkling…unusually high level of ensemble playing.”  Xiao Hu and Du Huang have performed in concert halls in Europe, Asia, and America, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Grosser Saal of Konzerthaus and the Brahms Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot in Paris, Shanghai Music Hall, and Beijing Music Hall. The duo has performed numerous concerts in the Czech Republic as part of the Vysočina Music Festival and the South Bohemia Music Festival. Recent concerts took the duo to Brazil, China, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Live performances by the duo have been broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio and Iowa Public Television. They have premiered and commissioned new works for the piano duo medium.  The duo recorded on Innova label in the United States, of which reviewer Carla Rees of the Music Web International wrote: “The playing of the Unison Piano Duo is impressive throughout.”  They also released an album on the Chinese label Yangtze River, and another recording on American label of MSR Classics.

Hu and Huang received their early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music’s Elementary and Middle School in China, and later earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, studying with pianist Eugene Pridonoff.  Both hold a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where they studied with pianist Gilbert Kalish.  Dr. Hu and Dr. Huang are in high demand as visiting professors in conservatories and schools of music.  They are parents of two sons, with whom they reside in Decorah, Iowa.