Birmingham student wins international competition

Chinese pianist Di Xiao has been named a European Rising Star, an accolade which comes with a full schedule of concert bookings in Europe's major concert halls during 2008-09.

Member halls - including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Philharmonie Cologne, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Megaron in Athens, Konserthus Stockholm, and both the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna - put forward emerging artists considered to be 'on the threshold of their international careers' for a tour off all the venues. Previous nominees have included violinist Janine Jansen, the Belcea String Quartet and the Eroica and Eggner piano trios.

Twenty-seven-year-old Xiao completed an advanced postgraduate diploma in professional performance in 2006 and now studies with Margaret Fingerhut, Malcolm Wilson and Mark Racz. She was nominated for the Rising Stars series by Symphony Hall.

'Over the last two years, living in the multicultural city of Birmingham and studying at the conservatoire has helped my playing immensely,' she says. 'The opportunity to play recitals, concerts, work with the orchestra and enter competitions at an international level has helped me to grow as a performer and has given a real boost to my career.'

Symphony Hall is one of the founding members of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), which runs the Rising Stars Series - currently in its 11th year.

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