Cliburn Concerts: Haochen Zhang, piano

“Haochen Zhang has something more: a rare gift for painting scenes in music, creating visions and telling stories. His technique is likely second to none, but his true distinction is his ability to use it in communicating  his extra-musical ideas to listeners.”
— Boston Musical Intelligencer

In the 15 years since he won Cliburn gold at the age of 19, Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences in the United States, Europe, and Asia with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. He’s already appeared with many of the world’s leading festivals and orchestras including the BBC Proms with Long Yu and the China Philharmonic; the Munich Philharmonic with Lorin Maazel in a sold-out tour in Munich and China; the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; the Sydney Symphony and David Robertson in a China tour; and the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock in a tour of Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai.

In recent seasons, he debuted with the New York Philharmonic and Lucerne Festival Orchestra; performed with the Filarmonica della Scala, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Staatskapelle Berlin; toured Asia with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the United States with the Atlanta Symphony; made extensive recital and concerto tours in Asia with performances in China, Hong Kong, and Japan; and gave a concerto performance at Carnegie Hall with the NCPA Orchestra, which was followed by his recital debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

And he’s built an already impressive discography, including last year’s release of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, which Gramophone calls “a performance of unusual focus” that “no lover of Liszt, or of 19th-century piano repertoire more generally, can afford to miss.”

Help us welcome Haochen home.