"Zhang . . . demonstrated a musical maturity almost unimaginable in one so young."

- Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News

On June 7, 2009, four days after celebrating his nineteenth birthday, Haochen Zhang was awarded a Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He also received three years of international concert engagements and a CD recording of his prizewinning performances on the harmonia mundi usa label. The youngest participant at the competition, Mr. Zhang has already begun to forge a reputation as a strong, energetic pianist with a sophisticated approach and musical depth far beyond his years.

Haochen Zhang’s talent manifested itself early when he began studying the piano at age three. At age five, he made his recital debut at the Shanghai Music Hall, performing all fifteen Bach two-part inventions, as well as sonatas by Haydn and Mozart. His orchestral debut followed a year later when he performed a Mozart concerto with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. At seventeen, he became the youngest winner ever of the China International Piano Competition (2007). Since then, Mr. Zhang has performed with the China National Symphony, Polish Krakow State Philharmonic, Guangzhou and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the New Jersey Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras, among others.

Mr. Zhang’s inaugural season as a Cliburn gold medalist was launched by summer festival debuts in Aspen and Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Ruidoso, New Mexico. Additional engagements during 2009–2010 include performances with the Colorado, Hartford, Jacksonville, Pacific, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras and recital presented by Arts San Antonio; the Carolinas Concert Association (Charlotte); the Lied Centers of Kansas and Nebraska; La Jolla Music Society; Portland Piano International (Oregon); Scottsdale Center for the Arts; the University of Florida (Gainesville); and the University of Vermont (Burlington). International engagements coordinated by IMG Artists Europe include appearances at the Beijing Music Festival in October and recitals in Hannover, London, and Krakow in December.

Born in Shanghai, China, Haochen Zhang entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1999 at the age of nine, and was admitted to the Shenzhen Arts School, where he studied under Professor Dan Zhaoyi, in 2001. In March 2005, he was chosen from a pool of 115 pianists worldwide to study with pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he has just completed his second year toward the Bachelor of Music degree. Mr. Zhang excels at ping pong and snooker, and enjoys writing poetry, composing, and improvising popular music. His broad interests include Chinese and world history, as well as science and literature. Mr. Zhang’s complete Cliburn Competition performances are available for viewing at www.cliburn.tv.