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Qilin Sun, pianist, is currently Professor of Piano Performance at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she was appointed in 2025 as a high-level talent scholar. A graduate of The Juilliard School in New York, she earned her Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio. She is the First Prize winner of the 13th China Golden Bell Award for Music, Second Prize winner of the Ministry of Culture’s inaugural Wenhua National Piano Competition, and recipient of the “Chinese Elite Pianist” honor by the Chinese Musicians’ Association. Her recognitions include the National Arts Fund of China (2025), the Bashu Arts Award for Distinguished Artists (2023), and designation as a Class-C Leading Talent of Sichuan Province (2024). In 2021, she became the youngest piano professor in China, previously serving on the faculty of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music as Professor of Piano, Master’s Advisor, and Academic Committee Member.

Hailed by The Irish Times as a brilliant performer with “unfettered enthusiasm,” and by New York Music Review as “Ms. Sun may rightly take her place in the league of mastery,” Sun’s artistry combines poetic imagination with commanding power. She has appeared in more than twenty countries at major venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and has been featured at international festivals such as Aspen, Salzburg, Fontainebleau, the Holland Music Sessions, and Goslar. She has collaborated with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra. An enthusiastic chamber musician, she performs regularly with artists and ensembles including the David Oistrakh String Quartet, and is a member of the Altezza Piano Trio. Initially supported by The Juilliard School’s Honors Chamber Music Program, the trio made its recital debut at Alice Tully Hall and is rapidly establishing itself as an emerging ensemble in New York City. Sun has also premiered new works for piano and celesta at Alice Tully Hall as a member of the New Juilliard Ensemble.

Sun’s academic interests center on cross-cultural performance studies, healthy pianism, and the scientific foundations of piano technique. Her research has been published in People's Music, Piano Artistry, and Music Weekly, and she frequently presents lectures and masterclasses at conservatories across Asia, Europe, and the United States.

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Through her performances, Sun explores music’s capacity to unify individuals and communities. Her repertoire choices often pay tribute to global diversity, reflecting the many artistic and cultural perspectives she has encountered throughout her career and underscoring music’s enduring ability to bridge cultural boundaries.