Irene Huang

Irene Huang is a full scholarship student at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy of the Royal Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Berkovsky. She received her piano ARCT First Class Honours with Distinction in 2018 and the RCM’s Gold Medal for achieving the highest ARCT violin mark in the province in 2022. Currently, Irene is the pianist of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the collaborative pianist for the North Toronto Songbirds school, and the composer-in-residence for the Chinese Artists Society of Toronto Youth Orchestra. She also has extensive collaborative experience, having worked with strings, woodwinds, brass, and vocal musicians for recitals, exams, competitions, and festivals.

In 2020, Irene created Autumn Strings – a chamber group with a mission to share their love for music through monthly concerts on YouTube, volunteer activities, and collaborations with other amazing musicians. In 2021, Irene founded and coached Unique Mind Music – a youth ensemble where students got the opportunity to develop their artistic skills and spread joy through music during the pandemic.

Irene’s music training and experience have prepared her to pursue her passion as a professional composer. In 2021, Irene composed “Hide and Seek”, a piano trio and “Yellow Sky Over Blue Mountains”, a string quartet. Both pieces were performed by Glenn Gould School students and earned the top prize at Western University’s High School Composition Competition. In 2022, Irene’s composition “Face the Music” won first place in the United Nations’ Pitching Peace Youth Music Challenge and was featured during their inaugural event for the International Day for Disarmament on March 1, 2023. In 2023, her composition "Deaf Pillows" won the first prize in the Musical Offering's Young Women's Composition Competition. Irene was also selected to participate in the 2023 cycle of the NowBeat Project. Her composition “From Dawn to Dusk” (Trumpet and French Horn duet) was performed and recorded by students at the Juilliard School in May 2023.