St. Augustine Piano Academy

Founder of St. Augustine Piano Academy, Dr. Mimi Zhang is a pianist, collaborator, pedagogue, and researcher based in St. Augustine, Florida. Zhang has previously served on collegiate faculty, and is a passionate about dynamic group piano instruction. She holds degrees in music education, piano performance, and piano pedagogy. Dr. Zhang has maintained a successful piano studio for over 12 consecutive years, and has 23 years of piano performance experience.

As a soloist, Dr. Zhang has holds 1st prizes in the Orbetello International Piano Competition (2022), Great Composers International Competition (2017), University of Oklahoma Rising Stars Young Artist Competition (2021), AMTA Solo Concerto Competition (2019), Alabama Federation of Music Collegiate Auditions (2020), and Alabama MTNA Young Artist Performance Competition (2019). Additionally, she has received awards at the New Star International Piano Competition (2023), VII Future Stars International Competition (2023), and Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition (2019).

Dr. Zhang is a passionate pedagogical researcher. Zhang’s research interests include the infusion of group fitness pedagogy and music education, the Kodály approach, musculoskeletal awareness, and injury prevention for musicians. Her research has been featured in national and regional conferences, including the MTNA National Conference, NCKP National Conference, MTNA Collegiate Chapters Symposium, OMTA State Conference, AMTA State Conference, and CMS Regional Conference. She has been published in the MTNA e-Journal September 2020 Issue and the 2023 NCKP Proceedings Publication.

Dr. Mimi Zhang received her Doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma under the tutelage of Dr. Jeongwon Ham, Dr. Barbara Fast, J.P. Murphy, and Dr. Jane Magrath. Dr. Zhang received her Masters in Music in piano performance from the University of Alabama and a B.A. in music education and piano performance from Virginia Tech.