Mengya Tian is a Chinese guitarist and educator living and performing in the United States. She balances her passion as a music educator with her performing and recording output, always looking to artistically connect with others. Tian aims to cultivate students to become independent-thinking musicians in both theoretical and practical ways.

Tian was a Guitar Outreach Clinician for D’Addario, where she had the opportunity to work with students of all ages interested in classical guitar. She also taught through UT Austin’s String Project and served as a Teaching Artist with Austin Classical Guitar at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. Tian has also served as a juror for the University Interscholastic League (UIL).

As a performer, Mengya Tian is a prize winner in many international guitar competitions, including 1st prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 18th annual Dallas International Guitar Competition, and 2nd prize at Southwest Guitar Symposium. Before moving to the States, other notable prizes include Hangzhou International Guitar Festival China, the Changsha International Guitar Festival in China, and the Instrumental Concerto Competition in Suzhou, China.

As an artist, Tian joined the nonprofit Ex-Aequo Artists to record the collaborative album "Changing the Canon," which commissioned nine Black American composers to write for the guitar. In addition to her performances in China, Tian has performed at various festivals and events throughout the United States as a guest artist. Tian is also an active chamber music performer, and collaborated with renowned musicians.

Tian earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with renowned guitarist and pedagogue Adam Holzman. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Suzhou University in China, where she studied with Matthias Lang. Her previous teachers include Andres Qianlong Hsieh, Denny Yeh, and Yi Tian.