Xian Zhang

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Xian Zhang (simplified Chinese: 张弦), born in 1973 in Dandong, China) is a Chinese American conductor. She was appointed Associate Conductor of the New York Philharmonic in July 2005 by Music Director Lorin Maazel.

Xian Zhang received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and began work on a doctorate at The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She served as conductor-in-residence of the China Opera House in Beijing, and conductor of the JinFan Symphony Orchestra.

Zhang made her Philharmonic subscription debut in January 2005, conducting Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Scherzoid, a World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Commission, and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, on a program shared with Maazel. Later in the season she shared conducting duties with Pinchas Zukerman, leading the Philharmonic in a performance of Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat. She also conducted six of the seven orchestral programs in the 2005 New York Philharmonic Time Warner Concerts in the Parks, and one concert during the Orchestra’s residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado in July 2005.

During the 2005–06 season Zhang led three Philharmonic subscription concerts and a Young People’s Concert while continuing to serve as a cover conductor for the Orchestra.

Zhang has studied with Maazel, and was a co-winner of the Maazel-Vilar Conductors’ Competition. She made her debut with the Philharmonic leading a Young People’s Concert on February 7, 2004, and again conducted concerts for youngsters on November 12, 2004 and April 2, 2005. On May 30, 2005, she led the Philharmonic’s free Annual Memorial Day Concert at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York. She was a cover conductor for the orchestra during the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons.

Zhang made her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in May 2005. She has made guest-conducting appearances with New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Following her success with Verdi’s La traviata at the Cincinnati Opera in 2003, Ms. Zhang was invited to conduct the company’s 2004 production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and other upcoming presentations. Future engagements include appearances with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Cincinnati Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Minnesota Opera. She recently completed a four-year tenure as music director of the Concert Orchestra at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In 2007, Zhang debuted with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducting Tchaikovsky.

In early 2008 Xian Zhang bacame the first woman to conduct the Staatskapelle Dresden in its main hall. She made her professional conducting debut at Carnegie Hall, New York , on February 3, 2008, leading the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a mostly-Beethoven program.