Fellow Highlights

PD Soros Fellow Hilda Huang: A Voice Across Centuries

September 8, 2026

Photograph of Hilda Huang by Ryan Brandenberg.

Second Prize, MA Competition 2026

2019 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Hilda Huang has won one of the most prestigious prizes in historical performance, the 2026 MA Harpsichord Competition.

Her second-prize win at this year’s MA Competition, judged by an elite international panel including Jean Rondeau and Richard Egarr, marks another milestone in an already extraordinary career. But what makes Hilda’s achievement distinctive isn’t just the prize itself. It’s the path that brought her here—a path that defies the conventional boundaries between classical and historical performance.

At eight years old, Hilda entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division as its first-ever harpsichord student. She was simultaneously pursuing piano studies, which was an unusual combination that would become the defining feature of her artistic identity.

This early exposure to both the modern piano and the harpsichord’s voice set her on what she describes as “an unusual artistic path.” That path led her to win the Leipzig International Bach Competition in 2014, in the piano division, establishing her as an exceptional performer of Baroque music on the modern keyboard.

Now, with her second-prize finish at Bruges, perhaps the world’s most significant harpsichord competitions, Hilda is one of the few artists who have won top prizes playing both modern piano and harpsichord.

“I’m one of the few artists performing publicly at the international level on both modern piano and harpsichord,” Hilda recently reflected. “Part of my artistic mission is to break the barriers between classical and historical performance.”

Beyond being a professional achievement, Hilda’s work as a dual instrumentalist represents a philosophical stance: that the music itself, whether approached through a Steinway or a Ruckers, matters more than the boundaries that often separate performers and repertoire into siloed traditions.

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans supported Hilda’s doctoral studies at Juilliard. “It [the Fellowship] gave me the financial freedom and confidence to authentically pursue my musical interests and follow them in whichever direction they would lead me,” Hilda said. Through the Fellowship’s support, she was able to pursue simultaneous degrees: a DMA in solo piano at Juilliard while also studying harpsichord as a friend of the Historical Performance Department.

Writing her essays for the PD Soros Fellowship, which asked her to consider her own immigrant experience and place in music, proved transformative. She found herself examining the same questions when preparing for the Bruges competition: What does it mean to approach interpretive traditions as an outsider?

“Part of my artistic mission is to break the barriers between classical and historical performance.”
Hilda Huang, 2019 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow

Photograph of Hilda Huang by Bruce Cocet.

“I grew up feeling like an outsider to classical music’s longstanding interpretive traditions,” Hilda explained. “For me, studying the harpsichord is a deeply personal way to enter into the world of historical performance. It was a way to engage with my past and my identity as a musician.”

At the heart of Hilda’s artistic vision is a conviction about representation and voice. “All our voices matter, precisely because of our various backgrounds and the many-layered journeys we take to get to where we are today,” she explained. “What we learn along the way is the knowledge that I feel most confident and eager to share with others.” By succeeding at the highest levels across two distinct keyboard traditions, Hilda is working to demonstrate that there isn’t one “right way” to interpret this music.

“Artistic freedom is the most precious thing,” Hilda said. “It results in unexpected and priceless progress.”

Her second-prize win at the 2026 MA Competition suggests that progress is far from finished. ■