Xi Zhai's playing is characterized by great emotional depth, perfect technique and an extraordinarily refined touch, which, however, never becomes an end in itself in his playing, but solely serves to fathom the musical content. His extensive repertoire ranges from Baroque to Classical, Romantic and Modern masters. His repertoire for piano and orchestra includes all piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, as well as works by Haydn, Schumann, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and other composers.

Several awards, such as the Gold Medal of the Toyama Piano Competition in Shanghai and the Silver Medal of the Asian Music Competition in Hong Kong were the beginning of Xi Zhai’s international concert career. In October 2013, Xi Zhai was awarded a scholarship of arteMusica for his outstanding musical achievements. Furthermore he participated in numerous master classes, among others with distinguished artists such as Elizabeth Leonskaja, Sir Andras Schiff, Paul Badura-Skoda, Prof. Helmut Deutsch, Prof. Fou Tsong, Prof. Yehoved Kaplinsky and Prof. Arie Vardi.

Xi Zhai’s extensive repertoire ranges from the Baroque and masters of the Classical and Romantic era to contemporary composers. His repertoire for piano and orchestra includes the complete piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, as well as works by Haydn, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Grieg and other composers.

Xi Zhai has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls, such as in 2009 at the Grand Theatre in Beijing, and since 2011 he has performed several times at the ‘Alte Oper’ in Frankfurt, where he played for instance Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental Goldberg-Variations.

Xi Zhai has been featured as soloist with several orchestras in China, Portugal, Italy and Germany. He has performed with renowned conductors such as Karsten Januschke, Erich Wächter, Elahiu von Erlenbach, Chen Xieyang, Bian Zhushan, Chen Zuohuang, Armando Mota and Fu Renchang.

Since April 2018 Xi Zhai holds a faculty position at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and since 2019 a teaching position at the University of Music Mainz.

He ocasionally joins the faculty of some festivals such as Casalmaggiore Music Festival or Musiktage am Rhein and has recently recorded Paul Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 1 together with Christoph Eschenbach.

Since April 2018 Xi Zhai holds a faculty position at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and since 2019 a teaching position at the University of Music Mainz. He ocasionally joins the faculty of some festivals such as Casalmaggiore Music Festival or Musiktage am Rhein and has recently recorded Paul Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 1 together with Christoph Eschenbach.

Since 2021 he has an additional teaching position at Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium Frankfurt