International virtuoso returns to Grand Piano Series
Written by for Florida Weekly
Kate Liu, from reversal to revival
“What long lines, what concentration, what focus, and all seemingly effortless.”
So said Gramophone of 32-year-old pianist Kate Liu’s rapt attention to every note she plays.
She might make it all look easy, but Liu takes no note lightly.
Not musicians themselves, her mathematically inclined parents were nonetheless adamant about their children having a musical education. Though her memories of the time are foggy, Liu does remember following her older sister’s fingertips onto the keyboard, at the age of four.
“I tried to copy everything she did,” Liu said with a chuckle.
Her sister eventually switched to violin, while young Kate’s piano journey continued.
At 14 in Kansas, she found herself for the first time in summer camp, surrounded by serious young pianists from around the world. It was a fun experience, she says, but Liu also took it to heart.
One of her teachers, noted pianist Alan Chow, said of her, “Kate … is always thinking and is never easily satisfied.”
“I think a lot of musicians are perfectionists,” Liu said. “I can count only a few times when I’ve felt completely satisfied. There’s always something that can be improved upon.”
Early in her career, she seized first prizes at the Third Asia-Pacific International Chopin Competition and the New York International Piano Competition.
She continued competing, ultimately capturing bronze at 2015’s 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition, where she also received the Best Mazurka Prize, as well as the Audience Favorite Prize.
Then, after the Chopin competition, a hand injury sidelined her for two years of treatment and retraining.
“It seems like everyone has an injury at some point,” she mused. “It’s sort of an occupational hazard. Sometimes it’s a matter of physical technical habits, but you might also overdo practicing, competing and concertizing.”
Today, Liu says, “I definitely don’t miss competing,” but she’s fully back to performing, borne by the music she loves to worldwide venues from Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, Serbia, Croatia and Japan to Boston.
In 2025, she released a debut album of Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with Orchid Classics.
And always, there’s Chopin.
In her solo programs, she includes Chopin both because the audience expects it of her and because she happens to love it.
She said, “Chopin’s music is so accessible, entirely romantic, very connected directly to the heart. That’s why he’s one of the most beloved of classical music composers. There’s something in the way he writes that speaks directly to the soul, so unbridled and purely beautiful, even in the lesser-known works. His voice is different from any other composer’s. Even the endings of his pieces are so bittersweet and nostalgic.
The Naples audience will likely remember Liu from her 2019 Grand Piano Series performance.
She has also performed literally alongside series crowd favorite Eric Lu, who returned to Naples last year himself, months before winning first prize in the 2025 Chopin competition.
“It’s always wonderful to collaborate with such an extraordinary musician,” Liu said. “We first played a double concerto together and, later, a duo recital on one piano, where you really get a sense of the other musician. We love the same pieces, so all the pieces we chose are ones that we love.”
Although the Nov. 4 Grand Piano Series concert is sold out, last-minute tickets might become available. Those interested should leave a voicemail with contact information for Grand Piano Series at 469-333-3231.
Kate Liu fans can follow her in 2027 to Madison, Wisconsin; Corvallis, Oregon; and Boston’s Jordan Hall.
In The Know
Kate Liu
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4
Where: Daniels Pavilion, Artis—Naples
Address: 5833 Pelican Bay Boulevard, Naples.
Tickets: grandpianoseries.org