Born in Xian, Congcong Chai started learning piano with his mother at a young age. He studied at the DongFang XingZhi Piano School with Prof. Zheng Shu Xing, and ShenZhen Art School with Dan Zhao Yi and Miao Xiao Yan. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to study with Prof. Eleanor Wong for his Diploma, Bachelor, and Master degrees. He is currently in his first year of the DMA programme at the University of Kansas with Dr. Jack Winerock.
As a recipient of numerous scholarships, Chai has been awarded the Lee Shuk-chee Memorial Scholarship, The Society of APA Non-Local Scholarship, Tom Lee Music Scholarship, CE Scholarship, Baring Private Equity Asia Scholarship, HKAPA Piano Alumni Scholarship, Capps Rogers Scholarship and David & Gunda Hiebert Piano Scholarship. Chai has participated in piano masterclasses and private lessons conducted by Leslie Howard, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Vladimir Krainev, to name just a few. As a pianist, he has performed in Lawrence, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, and Zhu Hai. His performances have included varied repertoire for solo piano, two pianos, and piano concertos. He enjoys an association with the conductors Yang Ye and Yondani Butt, collaborating in performances of the Yellow River Piano Concerto and Grieg Piano Concerto. In March 2013 Congcong Chai won the Dallas Chamber Symphony International Piano Competition 2013.
