Irene Xu, a 13-year-old award-winning pianist from the Bay Area, is an 8th grader at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School. She began studying classical piano at the age of six and is currently a student of Professor John McCarthy. Irene has also received guidance through masterclasses with esteemed musicians such as Professor Victor Rosenbaum of the New England Conservatory of Music, among others.
Irene has won numerous awards in competitions such as the Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Movement Competition and the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition (Junior Division), and was awarded Young Prodigy and First Prize in the BAMA US International Open Music Competition. In previous years, she has been a semifinalist at the Seattle International Piano Competition and has received top prizes in the USIMC Young Artist Award Category, Special Theme Mozart Category, and Special Theme Bach Category, the CAPMT Competition (Contemporary and Concerto Divisions), the USOMC Chinese Composer Category, the Great Composers Best Mendelssohn Performance Division, the Charleston International Piano Competition (Baroque Category), the Spotlight Arts and Culture Foundation International Piano Competition, and the US New Star Piano Competition (Asian Composers Category). She has also been selected to perform at the Junior Bach Festival in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Irene has been the piano accompanist for her school’s orchestra throughout elementary and middle school. In February 2026, the orchestra was awarded Second Place at the American String Teachers Association National Orchestra Festival. She is also a member of Notes for All, a student-led non-profit organization where members perform in senior living facilities, nursing homes, and other community settings.
Apart from music, Irene is also a nationally ranked competitive badminton player and enjoys reading, shopping, and spending time with friends and family.
F. Mendelssohn, Rondo Capriccioso in E major, Op. 14
