Zhang Zuo (pianist)

Zhang Zuo (Chinese: 左章; pinyin: Zuǒ Zhāng; born 10 October 1989), also known by the name Zee Zee, is a Chinese-American pianist, who has won first prize awards at the 1st International Piano Competition in China, the Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in the United States, the Krainev International Piano Competition in Ukraine, and the Juilliard School's 32nd annual William Petschek Piano Recital Award.[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zuo.

Early life

Zee Zee started her musical training at the age of five in Berlin.[2] She enrolled later at the Shenzhen Arts School at the age of seven, and began studying with Dan Zhaoyi, a famous Chinese piano educator and professor.[3] At the age of eight, she began winning competitions and gave her first concerto performance.[4] It was then she performed the Haydn's Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. At the age of ten, she gave her first solo concert in Shenzhen and became a representative of the Chinese piano community.[5]

After completing her piano studies with Dan Zhaoyii at the Shenzhen Arts School, Zuo was invited to continue her artistic development in 2006 in the United States, where she attended the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music under the mentorship of Nelita True for her bachelor's degree.[6] Later, she completed her master's degree at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Robert McDonald and Yoheved Kaplinsky.[7] In 2014, Zuo was selected to join BBC's flagship New Generation Artist (NGA) program in the UK for two seasons.[8] She has also performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi in Mendelssohn's first piano concerto,[9] as well as at the Ravinia Festival. In the autumn of 2014, Zuo went on a recital tour through Italy with violinist Julian Rachlin and cellist Lynn Harrell.[10]

Career

On February 7, 2023 IMG Artists announced Zuo joined their roster for general management, represented by Iris Yuan from London.[11][12]

Achievements

In the 23-24 season, Zee Zee returns to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Wigmore Hall, and Macao International Music Festival, among others. She will play with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic, Szczecin Philharmonic, and at Concertgebouw, Prague Spring Festival, Parnu Music Festival, Minnesota Beethoven Festival, InClassica Dubai International Music Festival among others. She will also play the season-opening concerts of both China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights in the recent seasons include the season-opening concert with the Estonian National Symphony under Neeme Järvi, with the Philharmonia orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and a tour in the UK under Paavo Järvi, Three times with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Christoph Koncz, Paavo Järvi, and Yu Long respectively, as well as the complete piano concertos of Beethoven and of Saint-Saëns with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. She gave recitals at the Aspen Music Festival, Brevard Summer Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, Casa da Musica in Porto, Esplanade in Singapore, and Premiere Performance Hong Kong, among others.

In the past seasons, Zee Zee performed with leading orchestras worldwide including the BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Macedonian Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Janacek Philharmonic, Slovakia Philharmonic, Kristiansand Symphony, Turku Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Royal Bangkok Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, among others. Zee Zee was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2013-2015 and performed at the Royal Albert Hall as a part of the BBC Proms.

Zee Zee has given a number of notable recitals, including at the Wigmore Hall in London, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York, Vancouver Recital Society, and Hong Kong’s Premiere Performances, and has appeared at festivals such as MiTo Festival, the Gilmore Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Brevard Music Center Summer Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Lucerne Festival, Biarritz Piano Festival and the SJE Arts Series in Oxford.

She regularly works with some of today’s leading conductors, including Marin Alsop, Jonathan Bloxham, Lionel Bringuier, Charles Dutoit, Alondra de la Parra, Domingo Hindoyan, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Christoph Koncz, Michał Nesterowicz, Jun Märkl, Julian Rachlin, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Roberto Trevino and Xian Zhang.

A passionate chamber musician, Zee Zee is a founding member of the Z.E.N. Trio, alongside violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan. The trio released their first album featuring works from Brahms and Dvorak in 2017, and the second album featuring Shostakovich, Babadjanian, and Rachmaninov in 2019, both under Deutsche Gramophone. They tour regularly throughout the world, including the first highly acclaimed tour in North America in October 2019 with presenters such as San Francisco Performances, The Phillips Collection, Vancouver Recital Society, a 10-concert-tour in Australia with Musica Viva in August 2022, and Europe tours in May & November 2024.

Zee Zee is the founder and the artistic director of the Z+ international music festival, which takes place annually in Spring in Shanghai. As one of the biggest and most acclaimed chamber music festivals in Asia, she is in charge of its strategy, vision, and programming, cooperating with the best musicians around the world while contributing to the local community. The Artists performing at the festival in April 2024 include Narek Hakhnazaryan, Clara-Jumi Kang, Sunwook Kim, Yura Lee, Ning Feng, Louis Schwizgebel, Julian Steckel, Esther Yoo, Haochen Zhang, and Diotima Quartet.

In October 2019, Universal released her first album under Deutsche Gramophone, featuring Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Paavo Järvi and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the second one, a solo album <journey> under Decca Classics featuring works from Wagner, Schönberg, and Liszt is released in May 2022.

References
  1. "Pianist Zhang Zuo is Winner of Juilliard's William Petschek Piano Recital Award and Makes Her Alice Tully Hall Debut on Thursday, May 9 at 8 PM | The Juilliard School". www.juilliard.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  2. "Zhang Zuo – Songs, Playlists, Videos and Tours". BBC Music. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  3. "A Chinese pianist can tell her good shows from bad|Life|chinadaily.com.cn". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  4. "Meet Zhang Zuo, Petschek Recitalist | The Juilliard School". www.juilliard.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25.
  5. "2015 BNP Paribas Rising Stars Piano Festival unleashes young Chinese pianists' talents – BNP Paribas China". www.bnpparibas.com.cn. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  6. "BBC – Music – Zhang Zuo". Archived from the original on 2014-10-14.
  7. "Meet Zhang Zuo, Petschek Recitalist". www.juilliard.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  8. "Columbia Artists Management Inc. — Zhang Zuo". www.cami.com. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  9. "Review: Paavo, CSO shine again". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  10. "Belgischer Rundfunk".
  11. Lebrecht, Norman (7 February 2023). "IMG SIGN CHINA'S TOP CELLIST". Slippedisc. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  12. "IMG Artists Welcomes Cellist Jing Zhao and Pianist Zee Zee to its Roster for General Management". IMG Artists. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
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