Chia Chou, the son of a medical professor, grew up in Toronto, Canada. At the age of four he already learned to play the piano, he won child and youth competitions, and studied at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. In 1978 he continued his studies at the State Academy for Music in Stuttgart under Professor Lieselotte Gierth. After winning the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin in 1980, one year later he was also awarded the first prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition as the youngest finalist. Chia Chou plays in concert with world-ranking orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductors like Charles Dutoit and James Conlon, and he regularly gives concerts in Europe, Australia and America. In 1983 he was the first Chinese artist living abroad to perform in the People's Republic of China after the Cultural Revolution. Since 1989 Chia Chou, who lives in Stuttgart, has been a member of Trio Parnassus. He is professor for Chamber Music at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.