Conductor: Zhang Lu
Young Chinese conductor and pianist Zhang Lu was born in a music family. In 1993, he started to learn piano with Russian pianist Elena Kaminskaya. In 2005, he entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to major in orchestral conducting and piano, working under Yu Long, Zhang Guoyong, Wu Ying, Shao Dan, Sheng Yiqi, and Sun Yindi. He went to Finland to further his study on orchestral conducting in 2013, then began to study in Academia di Santa Cecilia. At the same time, he perfected his opera conducting with the Principal Artistic Director of La Scala. During his study, he has received guidance from maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Charles Dutoit, and great pianists including Gary Graffman, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Fu Ts’ong.
Zhang has demonstrated great potential since an early age, obtaining the first place in Moscow International Teenager Piano Competition twice. In 1994, he won with the first place in Kabalevsky’s Piano Works Performance Competition. Moreover, he has obtained the scholarship from a Russian International Culture & Art Foundation four years in a row. During college, he has won silver prizes in 2009 Golden Bell Piano Competition and 2013 Golden Bell Piano and String Competition.
In 1996, he started his career in the Main Concert Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 with Russian Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra. This concert was highly approved by the orchestra and the audience. As pianist and conductor, he has joined hands with many major orchestras from China and abroad, including China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Guangzhou Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Voronezhskaya Symphony, Kuopio Symphony, Seinajoki Municipal Symphony, Szolnok Symphony, Toscana Symphony, and so on.
Under the invitation of San Francisco’s Mayor, Zhang held several recitals in this city in 1999. In 2013, he conducted Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra to record an album of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Bloch’s Schelomo, and Bruch’s Kol Nidrei with cellist Susan Lamb. In 2018, he cooperated with composer Tan Dun and violinist Eldbjorg Hemsing to perform on the Norwegian King’s State Visit to China Banquet. In 2019, he was invited by the 52nd Festival Delle Nazioni to conduct Symphony and perform in the closing ceremony as a pianist under the baton of Lin Daye. As Tan Dun’s assistant conductor, he has joined Tan Dun’s Music Week, Martial Arts Trilogy Concert, and Rock the Symphony Roll Concert. Besides, he has been very active to promote Chinese modern opera, conducting The Magical Horse with Two Wings in 2019 (director: Chen Wei).
In 2020, Zhang was appointed as the assistant conductor of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. In November of the same year, he made his debut with the Orchestra, performing Fauré's Requiem with Huang Ying and Yang Xiaoyong.In June 2021, Zhang conducted the orchestra in a special concert including the premiere of the full version of Hao Weiya's We Run to the Sea and Look at the Stars, a commissioned work by SSO to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Zhang is also a passionate chamber musician, and in July 2021 he made his debut on the stage of the Music in the Summer Air in Shanghai. Zhang participated in and organized the concert series "Blind Box", which was recommended by Gramophone in 2022.
In 2022, Zhang was selected as one of the ten best young conductors in China by the Ministry of Propaganda, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Music Association.
