Angie Zhang
Biography
Recognized as an inquisitive and authentic musician, Angie Zhang is a unique 21st-century artist, dedicated to the modern piano, fortepiano, and harpsichord alike, who has boldly expanded her creative footprint to encompass improvisation and conducting. Praised as "warmly expressive, sensitive, and polished" as well as "a valuable advocate for classical music" by New York Concert Review, she has appeared in major venues including the Kennedy Center, LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), and Lincoln Center. Angie combines a decorated performance career with a focus on arts activism and interdisciplinary collaboration, and is the first pianist in decades to win the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music.
Angie has been invited by and worked with some of the world's leading conductors and artists, most recently Anne-Marie McDermott and Jeffrey Kahane. She is a 2020 Gilmore Festival Fellow, was handpicked as a 2019 Bravo! Vail Piano Fellow, and will return this summer to pianoSonoma as Senior Artist-in-Residence as well as Sarasota Music Festival to perform Beethoven's Triple Concerto with violinist Margaret Batjer, concertmaster of the LA Chamber Orchestra and cellist Robert deMaine, principal cellist of the LA Philharmonic under conductor Larry Rachleff. Major international prizes in competitions including the New York, Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU, Charles Wadsworth, and Aspen Music Festival Piano Concerto Competition have been awarded to Angie, who is a rare three-time winner of Juilliard's Concerto Competition.
A seasoned soloist with orchestra, Angie made her debut at the age of 10 under Grammy-nominated conductor Neil DePonte. She has since performed nearly two dozen solo concerti with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, as well as for UNICEF and with musicians of the Met Opera Orchestra, among others. Her sold-out performance at Alice Tully Hall of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 under Fabio Luisi, was followed by her conducting debut at the piano of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 with the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. In March, she will make her ninth appearance with the Olympia Symphony under Huw Edwards, in his final season withthe Olympia Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5.
Passionate about collaborations of all kinds, Angie is an alumna of Perlman Music Program's Chamber Music Workshop and an inaugural member of Juilliard's Honors Chamber Music Program, coached by Emanuel Ax, Itzhak Perlman, David Finckel, and Robert Levin. A vocal advocate for new music, her trio has commissioned multiple works by living composers, and is featured in the video series "Life After Juilliard." She has also been invited to collaborate with internationally-acclaimed choreographers Aszure Barton and Kate Skarpetowska in performances glowingly reviewed by the New York Times.
As an educator, Angie is the youngest Juilliard student to hold concurrent teaching positions in the pre-college, college, and evening divisions. She was also an influencer at Juilliard, as Chair of Student Council and one of twelve students selected for the Presidential Search Committee commissioned to appoint Joseph Polisi's successor as President. Angie's pedagogical talent has also been recognized by the Aspen Music Festival which engaged her for three successive years as a teaching fellow.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Angie, a Yamaha Artist, holds a Bachelor of Music with Honors, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and was a student in the Barnard-Columbia-Juilliard Exchange Program. She remains extremely grateful to Suzie and Bruce Kovner for their generosity in awarding her the Kovner Fellowship throughout her studies at Juilliard.
