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Haiqiong Deng is a master player of the 21-string Chinese zheng. She has performed throughout North America and premiered dozens of new compositions by American composers. Haiqiong has also explored diverse world music traditions, including her decade-long learning with master Indian sitarist, Nalini Vinayak.

As a cultural bearer and ambassador, Haiqiong has received many awards including: the 2021-2022 Florida Specific Cultural Project Grant, 2017 Florida Cultural Heritage Award, 2012 the Master Artist of the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Award, and the Outstanding Performance Prize at the 1995 Chinese National Zheng Competition in Shanghai.

Haiqiong received her Bachelor of Music in guzheng Performance from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Master of Arts in Arts Administration and Ethnomusicology, and Ph.D. in Musicology from the Florida State University. Haiqiong taught at Florida State University, University of South Florida, and Tallahassee Community College. She also directed the FSU Chinese Music Ensemble for seventeen years. In 2020, Haiqiong founded the Mindful Plucking Music Academy to provide a live and virtual platform to cultivate mindful listening, nurture cultural understanding, and contribute to human wellbeing to people from all over the world.

Haiqiong Deng has served on the COCA Board of Directors since 2021.