CHUDAN DENG
When Spring Meets Love
St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, London | February 2026
In February 2026, Chudan collaborated with soprano Juliet Petrus, violinist Qintong Zhou, and cellist Pinxian He in When Spring Meets Love, a candlelight chamber concert celebrating themes of love, memory, and cultural dialogue.
The programme brought together European art songs, classical chamber music, contemporary popular works, and Chinese classics in a single narrative journey. Highlights included Kurt Weill’s Youkali, Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, Die With a Smileby Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, Kreisler’s Liebesleid and Liebesfreud, alongside beloved Chinese works including Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon, Spring Festival Overture, and The Lights of China.
As pianist and artistic director, Chudan curated the programme around the universal themes of love, hope, and human connection. At its heart were Kurt Weill’s Youkali and Ed Sheeran’s Perfect—two works from different musical worlds that explore the longing for an ideal place and the beauty of finding love. While Youkali imagines an unattainable paradise filled with freedom and hope, Perfect celebrates love through warmth, intimacy, and sincerity. Together, these contrasting yet complementary works formed the emotional foundation of the programme, linking European art music, contemporary popular repertoire, and Chinese classics into a cohesive cross-cultural concert experience.
Bamboo Reverie
Bamboo Reverie is an original piano composition by Chudan Deng, inspired by the quiet strength and elegance of bamboo in Chinese culture. Rather than portraying bamboo as a physical object, the work explores its symbolic meaning—resilience, humility, and inner peace—through a contemporary musical language rooted in lyrical expression.
Drawing on the aesthetics of Chinese philosophy while embracing the expressive possibilities of the modern piano, the piece unfolds through flowing melodies, spacious harmonies, and moments of quiet reflection. It invites listeners into an intimate soundscape where stillness and movement exist in balance, encouraging a sense of calm, contemplation, and emotional resonance.
Becoming
Becoming brings together three original piano compositions by Chudan Deng: Bamboo Reverie, Garden After Rain and Lotus Reflections. Inspired by bamboo, lotus flowers and the quiet atmosphere of Chinese gardens, the collection connects Chinese imagery with the expressive language of the piano.
Each piece offers a different scene for reflection, from the quiet strength of bamboo to the softened outlines of a garden after rainfall. Drawing on her classical background, Chudan explores these images through lyrical melodies and delicate textures, creating an intimate collection shaped by nature, memory and imagination.
Songs for Her
St Giles Cripplegate, London | March 2026
Songs for Her was a chamber concert celebrating feminine expression through music, bringing together works from the classical repertoire alongside contemporary songs inspired by love, memory, hope, and resilience.
Performed with violinist Qintong Zhou and cellist Yuwei Chen, the programme explored a wide emotional landscape, from the poetic intimacy of Schumann’s Träumerei and the luminous beauty of Debussy’s Clair de lune to contemporary favourites including Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years, Lana Del Rey’s Young and Beautiful, and Jay Chou’s Sunny Day. The concert invited audiences to experience how music from different genres and eras can express universal emotions through a shared chamber music setting.
As pianist and artistic director, Chudan curated the programme to create a dialogue between classical masterworks and contemporary popular music. Rather than presenting these works as separate traditions, the concert highlighted their shared emotional depth, demonstrating how lyrical melodies and expressive storytelling continue to resonate across generations and cultures.
Among the featured works, Debussy’s Clair de lune offered a moment of quiet reflection, its delicate textures and impressionistic colours evoking stillness, moonlight, and introspection. In contrast, Christina Perri’s A Thousand Yearsbrought a contemporary perspective on enduring love, transforming a globally recognised song into an intimate chamber performance. Together, these two works reflected the concert’s central idea—that music, regardless of style or period, has the power to express timeless human emotions.
A Tribute to Film Music
St Giles Cripplegate, London | April 2026
A Tribute to Film Music was a chamber concert celebrating some of the most iconic themes from cinema and animation through the expressive language of the piano trio. Performed by pianist Chudan Deng, violinist Qintong Zhou, and cellist Pinxian He, the programme explored how film music has become an important artistic voice that transcends the screen and resonates in the concert hall.
The programme featured music from internationally acclaimed films, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Your Name, Interstellar, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. Reimagined for piano trio, these works revealed the richness of cinematic storytelling through intimate chamber music, inviting audiences to experience familiar melodies from a fresh artistic perspective.
As pianist and artistic director, Chudan curated the programme to highlight the emotional depth and musical craftsmanship of film scores. By placing celebrated cinematic themes within a chamber music setting, the concert demonstrated how contemporary film music can stand alongside the classical repertoire, creating a concert experience that was both accessible and artistically engaging.
Opening the evening was Joe Hisaishi’s Merry-Go-Round of Life from Howl’s Moving Castle. Widely regarded as one of the most beloved themes in contemporary film music, the work captures a sense of wonder, nostalgia, and quiet optimism through its flowing waltz rhythm and lyrical melodies. As the opening piece, it established the concert’s atmosphere of imagination and cinematic storytelling, inviting audiences into a musical journey where memories, emotions, and visual narratives came together through live performance.
Moon and the Melody
Union Theatre, London | September 2025
Moon and the Melody was a themed vocal recital celebrating the enduring symbolism of the moon in Chinese poetry, music, and cultural memory. Curated by Chudan Deng, the concert brought together Chinese art songs, traditional poetry settings, and beloved Mandarin classics, inviting audiences to experience the emotional richness of the Mid-Autumn Festival through live performance.
The programme featured works including May We Live Long, Autumn Moon, Moonlight, The Moon Represents My Heart, Blue and White Porcelain, East Wind Breaks, and Ode to the Jade Green Lantern. Together, these works traced themes of reunion, longing, nostalgia, and home, reflecting the moon’s enduring place as one of the most powerful symbols in Chinese culture.
As the collaborative pianist and concert curator, Chudan worked closely with soprano Ziqing Mori Weng, guzheng player Mengdie Ji, and vocalist Qiye Chen to shape the programme into a unified artistic narrative. Rather than presenting individual songs in isolation, the recital unfolded as a musical journey inspired by classical poetry and seasonal traditions, blending traditional Chinese aesthetics with a contemporary concert experience for audiences in London.
Through Moon and the Melody, Chudan explored how music can preserve cultural heritage while creating meaningful connections across communities. The concert demonstrated her ongoing interest in developing cross-cultural performances that introduce the beauty of Chinese vocal repertoire to wider international audiences.
Chinese New Year Carnival 2026
21 February 2026
As part of the 2026 Chinese New Year Carnival at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico, Chudan Deng joined vocalist Penglei Liang for a programme pairing Richard Strauss’s Morgen!, Op. 27, No. 4, with “Obéissons quand leur voix appelle” from Jules Massenet’s Manon. Presented within an afternoon of music and community celebration, the two works offered contrasting perspectives on love and happiness through German art song and French opera.
Strauss’s Morgen! is a setting of a poem by John Henry Mackay, imagining a tomorrow filled with sunlight, companionship and quiet understanding. Its extended instrumental opening establishes a lyrical world before the voice enters, giving the piano an essential part in the unfolding musical narrative. The work calls for an unhurried sense of movement, carefully balanced sound and close coordination between singer and pianist.
Massenet’s “Obéissons quand leur voix appelle,” the gavotte from Act III of Manon, introduces a more theatrical atmosphere. Celebrating the pleasures of youth, the aria combines an elegant dance character with sparkling vocal writing. In a performance for voice and piano, the accompaniment carries the rhythmic energy and changing colours of the orchestral score, supporting the singer’s characterisation while maintaining the music’s lightness and momentum.
For Chudan, the programme brought together two distinct aspects of collaborative piano playing: sustaining the long melodic lines and intimate atmosphere of Strauss, and conveying the buoyancy and dramatic character of Massenet. Both works place close listening, shared phrasing and responsiveness at the centre of the musical partnership. Performed within a family and community celebration, the pairing brought a moment of reflection and a touch of operatic exuberance to the afternoon’s festivities.
Chudan Deng — Piano Recital
With Guest Soprano Huan Yan
1 May 2026 | St Giles’-without-Cripplegate, London
Chudan Deng presented a recital at St Giles’-without-Cripplegate, bringing together solo piano repertoire and operatic arias with guest soprano Huan Yan. The programme featured Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15, alongside Ludovico Einaudi’s I Giorni and Nuvole Bianche, with vocal works by Handel, Donizetti and Offenbach. Spanning different periods and musical styles, the programme combined intimate piano writing with the character and theatrical energy of opera.
Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) explores childhood through adult memory, moving between curiosity, tenderness and reflection. Its miniature scenes call for careful voicing, flexible phrasing and subtle changes of colour.
Einaudi’s I Giorni and Nuvole Bianche offered a contemporary contrast, with recurring patterns and lyrical melodies unfolding through gradual changes in harmony and intensity. Alongside Schumann, these works revealed different approaches to intimate expression at the piano.
Joined by soprano Huan Yan, Chudan also accompanied “Quel guardo il cavaliere” from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, “Tornami a vagheggiar” from Handel’s Alcina, and “Les oiseaux dans la charmille” from Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. These selections brought wit and theatrical energy to the programme, extending Chudan’s role from soloist to collaborative pianist, responding to the singer’s breathing, phrasing and dramatic timing.
From Pixels to Legends
St Gabriel’s Church, London | July 2026
From Pixels to Legends: A Journey Through Game Music and Fantasy Worlds was a chamber concert celebrating the artistry of video game music through live classical performance. Curated by Chudan Deng in collaboration with the China Britain Music Trust, the concert brought together iconic themes from internationally acclaimed games, reimagined for piano and chamber ensemble.
The programme featured music from The Legend of Zelda, Stardew Valley, Plants vs. Zombies, Super Mario Bros., League of Legends, Genshin Impact, Black Myth: Wukong, and other celebrated titles. Through carefully crafted chamber arrangements, the concert highlighted the emotional depth, orchestral richness, and narrative power of contemporary game music, demonstrating its place within today’s concert repertoire.
As pianist and artistic director, Chudan curated the programme to present video game music as a dynamic contemporary art form, using chamber performance to highlight its storytelling and emotional depth.
The featured videos reflect the programme’s range. Plants vs. Zombies Medley transformed a playful and rhythmically inventive soundtrack into an energetic live performance, while Yun Gong Xun Yin from Black Myth: Wukong brought together Chinese cultural heritage and cinematic musical language.
Through From Pixels to Legends, Chudan connected classical performance with gaming culture, creating an accessible concert experience for both traditional audiences and new listeners.
Late Autumn: Between Wind and Moon
26 October 2026 | St Mary-le-Bow, London
Curated and organised by pianist Chudan Deng, founder of Rain Music, this concert brought together piano, Chinese instruments and classical voice in a programme inspired by autumn. Featuring Chinese art songs, Western classical repertoire and chamber collaborations, the evening explored how different musical traditions express landscape, memory and changing seasons.
Chudan opened the concert with soprano Yinyin Hua in Qiu Feng Ci, introducing the evening’s autumnal theme through Chinese poetry and song. She also performed Lanting Xu alongside Cheng Yu (pipa), Lu Xie (guzheng), Jiacheng Yu (erhu) and Yuhan Luo (sheng). In this five-instrument ensemble, the piano provided a harmonic and rhythmic foundation, connecting the plucked textures of pipa and guzheng with the sustained lines of erhu and sheng.
The programme also featured pianists Yuanfan Yang and Jinghui Fang, and soprano Angel Wei. Cheng Yu and Yuanfan Yang’s performance of Yi Ethnic Dance moved between lyrical passages and lively dance rhythms, while Yang’s improvisations transformed suggestions from the audience into spontaneous piano pieces. Scriabin’s Fourth Piano Sonata offered another perspective on the piano’s expressive range, alongside vocal and instrumental works reflecting the concert’s seasonal theme.
Through Rain Music, Chudan brought these musicians together for an evening that gave Chinese instruments and repertoire a prominent place on a London stage. Her contribution encompassed programme planning, concert organisation and performance, connecting her work as a pianist with her wider commitment to musical collaboration and cultural exchange.
Echoes of Mountains and Islands
Cyber Eastern Music Festival II
Chudan Deng performed as a collaborative pianist in the opening concert of the second Cyber Eastern Music Festival, participating in the overseas premieres of two contemporary Chinese vocal works. Jointly organised by Half Lecture Half Concert and AIMID, the festival brought live performance together with talks and discussions exploring cultural heritage, music technology and artistic exchange.
With Kunqu performer Wang Wei, Chudan presented Dongliang Bai’s Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple (大林寺桃花), a setting of Bai Juyi’s celebrated poem. The text describes discovering peach blossoms in a mountain temple after spring flowers elsewhere have faded. Bringing classical poetry into a contemporary setting for voice and piano, the work connected literary imagery with the expressive possibilities of musical performance.
Chudan also accompanied soprano Zhamule in Zhang Peng’s Jiang Ying Die Cui (江影叠翠), a work evoking the waterways and landscapes of Jiangnan. Presented alongside Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple, the song offered another perspective on nature in Chinese vocal music. For the pianist, both works call for close attention to the relationship between language and music, supporting the singer’s phrasing while shaping the instrumental part.
Within a wider programme connecting Chinese and European musical landscapes, these performances introduced new Chinese compositions to a London audience. Chudan’s contribution centred on vocal collaboration and the interpretation of contemporary repertoire, placing poetry and landscape at the heart of her participation in the festival.
Echoes & Fire — A Lunchtime Recital
Curated and organised by pianist Chudan Deng, Echoes & Fire brought classical repertoire and music from Japanese animation together in a lunchtime recital. Featuring solo piano, violin and piano, and piano four hands, the programme explored different forms of musical storytelling, from intimate lyrical passages to dramatic concert works.
Chudan’s performances included Edward Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, Op. 12, and a Your Lie in April medley featuring music by Masaru Yokoyama. Elgar’s flowing melody offered a moment of warmth and tenderness, while the medley brought the emotional world of the Japanese animated series into a live concert setting. The pairing connected British Romantic repertoire with contemporary screen music through their shared emphasis on melody and expressive phrasing.
The wider programme included Tanjiro no Uta, Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2, Stravinsky’s The Firebird in Guido Agosti’s piano transcription, Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, and Schubert’s Ständchen arranged for piano four hands. Fellow performers included pianists Shengcong Zhao and Siyi Chen, and violinists Hui Jin and Cecilia Cui, bringing a range of instrumental combinations and musical perspectives to the afternoon.
Alongside her performance role, Chudan planned the programme and brought the participating musicians together. The recital reflected her interest in presenting classical music alongside repertoire familiar to audiences through animation, creating opportunities to hear both within a shared concert experience.
Animated Worlds in Concert
Curated and organised by pianist Chudan Deng, Animated Worlds in Concert brought familiar music from animation and fantasy storytelling into a classical chamber setting. Supported by The Liszt Society, the concert combined ensemble performances with Chudan’s original composition, presenting a programme shaped around imagination, memory and the emotional connections listeners develop with screen music.
The programme featured music from Howl’s Moving Castle, Demon Slayer, Fireworks and Your Lie in April, alongside Wu Ji from The Untamed. Different instrumental combinations gave these works new perspectives: music from Demon Slayer and Your Lie in April appeared in violin-and-piano performances, while Uchiage Hanabi was presented for piano four hands. Other selections used small chamber ensembles, allowing melodies and accompanying figures to pass between players.
Chudan performed as pianist throughout these collaborations, alongside her role in planning and organising the concert. The programme placed familiar themes within an intimate setting where the interaction between musicians became part of the storytelling, with changes of texture, balance and instrumental colour bringing different aspects of the music into focus.
The concert closed with Chudan’s own Bamboo Reverie, accompanied by a classical Chinese dance performance. Inspired by the imagery and cultural associations of bamboo, the work brought her original music into dialogue with movement. This final collaboration connected the evening’s imaginative screen worlds with her interest in Chinese aesthetics, drawing together her work as a pianist, composer and concert organiser.
London International Chinese Music Festival
Chudan Deng performed as pianist in the premiere performance of Linhao Li’s Between Mountains and Clouds (山与云之间) at the Fourth London International Chinese Music Festival.
Written for violin, dizi, pipa, piano and cello, the work brought Chinese and Western instruments together in a chamber setting. The combination offered a varied palette of plucked, bowed and wind textures, with close listening and balance central to the ensemble’s collaboration.
Presented within a programme of contemporary compositions and cross-cultural repertoire, the performance reflected Chudan’s interest in working with traditional Chinese instruments and introducing new Chinese music to audiences in the UK.