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The Chinese pianist, Haiou Zhang (Chinese: 张海鸥, Pinyin Zhāng Hǎi’ōu), received his very first piano lesson at the age of almost 9 years old. Two years later he stood out as the one of the only 4 (150 in total) candidates get accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (1994-2001) and graduated in 2002 with special honors. In 2011, he graduated with the best note in the soloist-class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover (2002-2011) with Professor Bernd Goetzke, the last pupil of the legendary pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. His awards include: Grand Prix at the 5th Vladimir Horowitz International piano competition and 1st Piano Duo competition in Shenzhen, China; the audience prize at the Piano Olympics at the Bad Kissingen Summer Festival; Gundlach Music Award and Dr. Maria Zbick Artist Award.
Only in his young age, Haiou Zhang has received wide recognition by critics and audiences in Europe, North and South America and the Far East. He conquered thousands of concert goers on a Canadian Tour with the Slovak Sinfonietta under Kerry Stratton performing L.v. Beethoven's piano concerti and W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 K. 467 with the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Fey in Brazil in 2010. Standing ovations accompanied him at every single concert. Engagements as a soloist have included with the Russian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra St. Petersburg under Juri Gilbo, Orchestra Filharmonica della Calabria under Filippo Arlia, Ontario Philharmonic under Marco Parisotto and German orchestras such as the Hamburger Symphoniker, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn and the Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Sopot, the Czech Hradec Králové Philharmonic, National Philharmonic of Ukraine and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra under Lihua Tan.
Haiou Zhang has performed in finest concerts hall and festivals: Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Beijing Concert Hall, Sala São Paulo, CBC Glenn Gould Studio Toronto and Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Gasteig Munich, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Regentenbau in Bad Kissingen and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Würzburg Bach Festival, Augsburg Mozart Festival, Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, Hohenloher Kultursommer, Festival International de Musique de Besançon in France, Festival de Música de Sant Pere de Rodes in Spain, International Music Festival Trecastagni in Italy, Pažaislis Music Festival in Lithunia, International Music Festival Kurressare in Estonia and Tbilisi Autumn International Music Festival in Georgia.
Haiou Zhang's chamber music collaborators are the vision string quartet, Quatuor Hermès, Quatuor Diotima, Meccore String Quartet, Faust Quartet, violinists Eldbjørg Hemsing, Tianwa Yang, Sarah Christian, Friederike Starkloff, Solenne Paidassi and cellists Leonid Gorokhov as well Sandra Lied Haga.
In the last three seasons, Haiou Zhang performed over 30 recitals throughout major concert halls in his home country China for more than 40,000 classical music lovers. A renewed concert tour in 2019 with Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra under the Israeli conductor Yeruham Sharovsky received enthusiastic acclaims for his unique interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1. He is a Resident-Artist of Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra under James P. Liu and Xiamen Philhamronic Orchestra under Renchang Fu.
In the 2018-2019 season, Haiou Zhang performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Russian National Philharmonic under Vladimir Spivakov in their Europa Tour, L.v. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 and W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 K. 466 with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover under Andrew Manze, Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra under Vakhtang Kakhidze and W.A. Mozart's piano concerti circles with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Estonian Sinfonietta, Musica Assoluta, National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. Exciting concert debuts brought him to the Philharmonie Berlin, Philharmonie Essen and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
In the 2020-2021 season, Haiou Zhang brought his magic touch on W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 K.467 at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover under the baton of Joshua Weilerstein. Other orchestral subscription Highlights include Franz Liszt's Totentanz with the Nürnberger Symphoniker under Kahchun Wong, Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Bremerhaven Philharmonic Orchestra under Marc Niemann, W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 K.271 with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under Robertas Šervenikas and Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie under Vahan Mardirossian, S. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Siberian Symphony Orchestra under Dmitry Vasiliev and Ukraine National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Renchang Fu, Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra etc. Besides, piano recitals will bring him back to Konzerthaus Berlin, Brucknerhaus Linz, Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore and starting intense chamber music collaborations with the Philharmonic String Quartet of Berliner Philharmoniker, Elphier Quartet (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester), Hába Quartet (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra), WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln Chamber Players in their prime radio subscription series.
His CD albums under the noble label Hänssler Classic are present on the market worldwide. Lufthansa have selected it in the official board music programs. Reviews have been raves throughout Europe, the USA, Canada and South America. Haiou Zhang's new W.A. Mozart piano concerto CD II with NDR Philharmonic String Players is nominated in the both categories ''Instrumentalist of the year'' and ''Concerto recording of the year'' by German Music Award Opus Klassik. "I find Zhang graceful and sensitive in the introspective slow movements, so emotionally affecting, and suitably brisk and vivacious in the Finales." - Musicweb International observed. He is heard regularly in concerts and interviews for various radio stations and television, such as CCTV China, SF1 Switzerland, NPR, BBC3, CBC, Classical FM96.3, Ontario TV Canada, Radio 4 Netherland, ORF 1 Austria, Radio New Zealand, France télévision 3 and has strong presence at German classical radio landscape at BR-Klassik, NDR Kultur, WDR3, SWR2, Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Deutsche Welle TV.
Beside his concert career, Haiou Zhang is also the Music Director and Founder of International Music Festival Buxtehude / Altes Land / Harburg in Northern Germany. The festival has enormously established as one of he most successful classical music institution in the Hamburg metropolitan area. From January 2020, he is appointed as the new Music Director of Öschberghof Klassik in Donaueschingen. Since spring 2021 he is appointed as Artistic Director of internatconcert series Concerts Grand Salon in Zürich, Switzerland. Since May 2021, he is Music Director of International Piano Festival at Savoy Baur En Ville in in Zürich.
Haiou Zhang is a visiting Professor for Euro Arts Music Festival & Academy in Germany for teaching activies and also as a piano jury member of Harmonium OnlinePlus international music competition next to Tamas Ungar, Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Vache Sharafyan. He currently lives in Hannover, Germany. |
