{{Short description|Classical pianist (born 1996)}} {{use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Tiffany Poon | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hant|潘活活}}}} | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1996|12|29}} | birth_place = British Hong Kong | occupation = Pianist | education = Juilliard School<br />Columbia University (BA) | years_active = | website = {{URL|tiffanypoon.com}} }} '''Tiffany Poon''' ({{Lang-zh|c=潘活活}}; born 29 December 1996) is an American classical pianist and vlogger, residing in New York City.
== Career ==
Born in Hong Kong, Poon began taking piano lessons at the age of four.<ref name=MusicalAmerica>{{cite web |last1=Wise |first1=Brian |title=New Artist of the Month: Tiffany Poon |url=https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?storyid=47581 |website=Musical America |access-date=2021-05-04 |date=1 May 2021}}</ref> At nine, she moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division for eight years with a full scholarship, under the guidance of Yoheved Kaplinsky. She studied at Calhoun School for high school, where she graduated in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|title=News Post : A Concert to Celebrate Steve Nelson, Jan. 31|url=https://www.calhoun.org/cf_news/view.cfm?newsid=667 |date=January 27, 2017 |access-date=2021-12-17|website=Calhoun School}}</ref> She continued her studies at the Columbia University / Juilliard School exchange program with Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein.<ref name=MusicalAmerica /> In May 2018, she graduated from Columbia University as a John Jay Scholar with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy.<ref name="columbiaspectator">{{Cite web|title=Senior Profile: Tiffany Poon, CC '18|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/commencement-2018/2018/05/15/senior-profile-tiffany-poon-cc-18/|access-date=2021-01-28|website=Columbia Daily Spectator |year=2018}}</ref>
Poon made her concerto debut at the age of 10, appearing with orchestras and in recital throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tiffany Poon - Piano - Biography |url=http://youngartistsfoundation.org/en/fellows/tiffany-poon/ |website=Young Artist Foundation |access-date=2021-05-05}}</ref> Among the venues where she has performed are Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in New York City, and Sala Mozart in Bologna, Italy. She has appeared as a soloist with the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra, Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra of Pavel Slobodkin Centre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography {{!}} Tiffany Poon|url=https://tiffanypoon.com/bio_eng/|access-date=2021-01-29|language=en-US}}</ref>
Poon has been active on social media since 2017 and expanded into video blogging when the COVID-19 pandemic ended live performances.<ref name="bachtrack">{{cite web |last1=Blackmore-Dobbyn |first1=Andrew |title=Tiffany Poon: "Music is not about music, it's about life" |url=https://bachtrack.com/interview-tiffany-poon-piano-vlog-november-2020 |website=Bachtrack |access-date=2021-05-05 |date=25 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite podcast |url=https://www.steinway.com/soundboard/soundboard-tiffany-poon |title=Soundboard : Tiffany Poon : 'What If You Put Back The Human?' |date=July 23, 2021 |access-date=April 29, 2023 |website=Steinway & Sons}}</ref> As of December 2024, Poon's YouTube channel had 328,000 subscribers: "Of course, it took years. I only started making vlogs because I thought that classical music lacked human elements. Composers are dead and current musicians don't really talk about themselves as humans."<ref name=MusicalAmerica />
In 2020, Poon founded ''Together with Classical'', a non-profit charity intended to unite people and communities by promoting classical music. It supports and funds classical music education programs and opportunities.<ref name="bachtrack"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=What We Do |url=https://www.togetherwithclassical.org/what-we-do |access-date=2023-04-29|website=togetherwithclassical.org|language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|text=It's kind of sad that classical music is said to be dying, [but] it feels like I'm making an impact on the world, and I'd like to continue inspiring more generations to appreciate classical music because I've been getting more and more messages from my audience that they were inspired to play because of me. And that means a lot to me, because it means that I'm doing something significant and worth my time.<ref name="columbiaspectator"/>|author=Tiffany Poon}}
== Awards ==
{{BLP sources|section|date=April 2023}} * 2012: First Prize and Best Performance of Concerto Award, 8th Moscow International Frederic Chopin Competition for Young Pianists<ref name=Brown /> * 2013: Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite web |url=https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/kc/pianocompetition2013/ |title=Kaufman Music Center's 2013 International Youth Piano Competition |website=Kaufman Music Center |year=2013 |quote=Tiffany Poon, Hong Kong, 16 years old, First Prize, Senior Division and The Faust Harrison Pianos award for Best Performance of Romantic piece |access-date=April 29, 2023}} |2={{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_S9TDIzLk8 |title=Tiffany Poon (performance) |publisher=Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center |via=YouTube |access-date=April 29, 2023}} }}</ref> * 2014: National YoungArts Winner in the United States<ref>{{cite web |url=https://youngarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2014-YoungArts-Winners.pdf |title=2014 YoungArts Winners |date=2014 |website=YoungArts |quote=Honorable Mentions in Music : Tiffany Poon, Piano, The Calhoun School, New York, New York |access-date=April 29, 2023}}</ref> * 2014: First Prize, Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition * 2014: Second Prize, 10th Chopin Golden Ring International Competition, Slovenia * 2015: Participant of the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland * 2016: First Prize, Manhattan International Music Competition<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.manhattancompetition.com/winners-2016-manhattan-competition |title=First Manhattan International Music Competition (2016) |year=2016 |website=manhattancompetition.com |access-date=April 29, 2023}}</ref> * 2016: Third Prize, 17th International Robert Schumann Competition, Germany<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-20 |title=Henriette Gödde und André Baleiro gewinnen Robert-Schumann-Wettbewerb {{!}} nmz - neue musikzeitung |url=https://www.nmz.de/menschen/personalia/henriette-goedde-und-andre-baleiro-gewinnen-robert-schumann-wettbewerb |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=www.nmz.de |language=de}}</ref> * 2016: Third Prize, “Debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall” International Concerto Competition * 2017: Second prize, Walter W. Naumburg Foundation International Competition * 2019: Second Place, KlavierOlymp of the Kissinger Sommer festival, Germany * 2019: Young Artist Award, Hessen Agency at the Rheingau Music Festival.<ref name=Brown>{{Cite web|title=Tiffany Poon Piano Recital |url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/music/events/tiffany-poon-piano-recital|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Brown University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127230813if_/https://www.brown.edu/academics/music/events/tiffany-poon-piano-recital|archive-date=2021-01-27}}</ref><ref name=ToOfTheWorld>{{Cite web|title=Tiffany Poon (Bio)|url=https://topoftheworld.no/team/tiffany-poon/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Top of the World International Piano Competition|language=en-GB |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214132229/https://topoftheworld.no/team/tiffany-poon/ |archive-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> *2025: Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 6, 2025 |title=Robert-Schumann-Preisträgerin 2025 steht fest - Stadt Zwickau |url=https://www.zwickau.de/de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2025/11/458.php|access-date=November 7, 2025}}</ref>
== Discography ==
* Natural Beauty - J.S. Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Kawai Edition, 2014<ref name=ToOfTheWorld /> * Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 38: Festivaldebüts 2019<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 38 – 3 CDs: Festivaldebüts 2019 |url=https://www.klavierfestival.de/produkt/cd-edition-vol-38/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Klavier-Festival Ruhr |language=de-DE-formal}}</ref> * The Dvorak Album - with Jan Vogler, Kevin Zhu, Chad Hoopes, Matthew Lipman and Juho Pohjonen, Sony Classical, 2022<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ueno |first=Azusa |date=2022-08-08 |title=Review: Dvořák - Chamber Works - Jan Vogler |url=https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-dvorak-chamber-works-jan-vogler/ |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=The Classic Review |language=en-US}}</ref> * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/diaries-schumann/ ''Diaries | Schumann''] - Robert Schumann, Pentatone, 2024<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pentatone |first=Marketing |date=2023-11-23 |title=Welcome to 'Diaries {{!}} Schumann': The Enchanting World of Pianist Tiffany Poon |url=https://www.pentatonemusic.com/welcome-to-diaries-schumann-the-enchanting-world-of-pianist-tiffany-poon/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Pentatone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Diaries: Schumann (Tiffany Poon) |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=diaries-schumann-tiffany-poon |last=Distler |first=Jed |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Gramophone}}</ref> * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/diaries-schumann-vinyl-re-issue/ ''Diaries: Schumann (Vinyl re-issue)''] - Robert Schumann, Pentatone, 2024 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/nature/ ''Nature''] - Daquin, Couperin, Rameau, Alkan, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, L. Boulanger, Pentatone, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-28 |title=Tiffany Poon's French Piano Journey with 'Nature' |url=https://www.pentatonemusic.com/pianist-tiffany-poon-presents-nature-french-works/ |access-date=2025-11-07 |website=Pentatone |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{official website|tiffanypoon.com|tiffanypoon.com}} * [https://www.togetherwithclassical.org/ Together with Classical] website {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poon, Tiffany}} Category:1996 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century classical pianists Category:American classical musicians of Chinese descent Category:American classical pianists Category:American women pianists Category:Chinese classical pianists Category:Chinese women pianists Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:21st-century American women Category:American YouTubers Category:Music YouTubers