Maximilian Hongcheng Zhu was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 2013. He began playing the piano at the age of five and gave his first public performance before his sixth birthday. He then received formal piano lessons from Uwe Balser at the Heidelberg School of Music and Singing and also began studying the violin as a second instrument with Isabel Steinbach.

Since 2020, Maximilian has participated in more than thirty major national and international piano and violin competitions, consistently achieving outstanding results: In 2022, he was awarded first prize and special prizes at the 7th International Béla Bartók Piano Competition in Graz, followed by first prize at the International Bitburger Piano Competition. In 2023, he received First Prize at the Feurich International Piano Competition in Vienna, First Prize at the THÜRMER Piano Competition in Bochum, and—as the only participant in the U16 category—the highest score at the Carl Schröder Competition in Sondershausen. In 2024, he was awarded second prize at the 3rd International Carl Maria von Weber Piano Competition in Dresden and received a special prize at the Carl Bechstein Competition for Children and Youth for the best interpretation of a contemporary work of his own choosing. In 2025, a particular highlight of his achievements to date was winning first prize as well as two special prizes at the 2nd International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Kronberg. In addition, Maximilian has been a prize winner at the Henle Piano Competition four times in a row, making him one of the most consistently successful participants in this competition. He has also taken part in master classes with Prof. Rudolf Meister, Prof. Oliver Kern, and Prof. Hinrich Alpers.