Haiqiong Deng, a performer on the traditional Chinese instrument the zheng (or gu--zheng), was the winner of the Outstanding Performance Prize at the Chinese National zheng Competition in Shanghai 1995. She was the recipient of the Master Artist of the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Award in 2012, and the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in 2013. Both of her CDs, "Mountain, Water, Sentiments - Traditional Chinese Zheng Masterpieces Performance by Haiqiong Deng" and "Echoes of Strings - Classical Indian Music by Sitar and Zheng" were nominated for the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards in "World Traditional" Category in 2014.