Emma Hou

Emma Hou was born in Taiwan and moved to Austin, Texas, in 2019 as a fourth grader. She is currently a tenth grader and has been playing piano for six years. 

She earned First Place in the Trio category of the American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition and performed at Carnegie Hall on December 23, 2023. She won First Prize in the 2025 Los Angeles and 2026 New York Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition, with invitations to perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall on July 2 and Carnegie Hall on March 8. She also earned First Place in the Elite International Music Competition in 2024 and 2025, with invitations to perform at Carnegie Hall on February 16, 2025, and Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York City on January 17, 2026. 

In 2024, she earned Third Place in the American Protégé International Romantic Music Competition, performing at Carnegie Hall on December 21, 2024, and Third Place in the New York Young Virtuoso Competition. In 2025, she received Third Place in the International Young Gifted Musicians Competition Passion of Music, held in Japan. She also received Second Place in the Summer Showcase category of the United Stars Music Competition and was named a Silver Medalist in Album of the Young Gifted Performers 2025 and Passion of Music 2026, with invitations to a professional recording session in New Jersey on May 3, 2025, and to perform at Carnegie Hall on May 17, 2026. 

She received Superior ratings in the Austin District Music Teachers Association Romantic/Contemporary Festival in 2022 and the Jazz-Pop-Rock category in 2021, and earned Gold Medals on the Texas Music Teachers Association Theory Test in 2023, 2024, and 2025.