Biography

Born and raised in New Zealand, Jiazhou Conroy Hu (JCHY) is a pianist, chamber musician, composer, pedagogue, and designer. Throughout his musical journey, Conroy has experienced many performance opportunities across the world. He performed concertos with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Auckland Chamber Ensemble and Auckland Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing solo concerts around New Zealand. Founder of Artemis Musica, he is an experienced chamber musician having collaborated with many musicians across Auckland and New York.

Conroy has performed in venues internationally such as Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall, and Hong Kong City Hall, as well as Klavierhaus, Old Stone House and Steinway Hall in New York City. In these venues he has shown his versatile capabilities in performing solo, chamber and concerto works.

Now settling in New York City, Conroy is currently studying his Masters of Music in piano at Mannes School of Music, with Pavlina Dokovska. He had previously been under the tutelage of Rae de Lisle and Matteo Napoli in New Zealand while at The University of Auckland, where he obtained his Bachelor of Music.

Conroy is also an avid composer, with a keen focus on writing melodious and virtuosic piano music. He debuted one of his compositions, “Scherzo Capriccioso,” in his first solo concert in Nelson (2019), and subsequently at the Wallace National Piano Competition that same year. During a course of 6 months in 2020, Conroy wrote his first piano sonata titled “Book of Dreams.” It is a 35 minute work that explores dreams in three continuous movements: Fantasy, Lucid Dream, and Nightmare. He is currently working on several large scale projects, mostly in orchestration.

Having excelled academically and artistically, Conroy has been the recipient of many scholarship awards such as the Anne Bellam Scholarship (2022), George Turner Wilson Music Trust Scholarships – Senior Awards (2022), John Baros Award in Music (2022), APO Haydn Staples Scholar (2021), Lions Club of Te Awamutu Scholarship (2019), and the Headmaster’s Performing Arts Scholarship (2016). Over the years, he has also won various categories in local competitions throughout New Zealand. Conroy was a semifinalist of the Lewis Eady National Piano Competition in 2021 and Wallace Piano Competition in 2019. In his high school, he received the Senior Minister’s plate twice, in 2014 and 2016. Conroy won the Tauranga Performing Arts Competition Society Major Award in 2016.