Xian Zhang

conductor

The 2024/25 season will mark the Grammy and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s ninth as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Zhang holds the position of Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, having previously held the position of Music Director from 2009 to 2016.

This season sees Zhang return to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to conduct David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Puccini’s Tosca, with Aleksandra Kurzak, Lise Davidsen, and Sondra Radvanovsky sharing the title role.

Zhang is in high demand as a guest conductor, appearing regularly with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, returning to both in 2024/25. Her recording with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Time for Three, Letters for The Future (released 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon), won Grammy awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories.

Following a successful collaboration at Tanglewood Festival 2023, Zhang returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra this season. She remains a favored guest of the Orchestra of St Luke’s and recently stepped in for its Brahms German Requiem concert at Carnegie Hall. Other 2024/25 highlights include the Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), Belgian National Orchestra, and Milan Symphony Orchestra.

Zhang continues to enjoy good relationships with many leading orchestras worldwide, including London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, DC), and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Zhang previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales—the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductors’ Competition. She was appointed Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 2002, subsequently becoming its Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.