Han Ding is a classical pianist, composer, arranger, harpsichordist, multimedia visual artist, and teacher. With twenty-five years of music experience, he has performed as a soloist and with ensembles, written a wide range of new works and arrangements, and taught for nearly two decades.
At the piano, Han’s repertoire includes major works such as Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto (Symphony of the Kootenays, 2018), Prokofiev’s Sixth Piano Sonata, and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He participated in the national CMC Stepping Stone competition, the CMC Finals on piano and harpsichord, and the RBC Concerto Competition with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Han’s recent recording projects include Childhood Memories (1996) by D. Geoffrey Bell and Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. For Canada’s 150th, Han was one of eight Alberta composers commissioned by ARMTA to write pieces based on folk songs, with the works published by Palliser. His output includes piano works, chamber pieces for cello, bassoon, and oboe, and many classical, jazz, and pop piano arrangements.
As a visual artist, Han has focused on painting and crafts. He has also explored projects in promotional videography, narrative filmmaking, and photography. He is currently constructing an architecturally accurate scale model of the Anne Frank House.
Han began playing music by ear; he began formal training at age eight, completed his Level 6 exam within ten months, and received his first piano diploma five years later. Han graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance and a Bachelor of Arts in English.
