Haiou Zhang

BiographY

‍Haiou Zhang is considered as one of the finest pianists in his generation.  

In 24/25 he will make appearances in recitals in London in the exciting Bechstein Hall, return to the Brucknerhaus Linz and twice in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Further activities include South American and Macedonian Premier of  the “Yellow River piano concerto” by Xian Xinghai with Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia and Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestro Yeruham Scharovsky, Liszt piano concerto No. 1 with Trier Philharmonic under Jochem Hochstenbach, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Festival Orchestra of Immling Festival under Maestra Cornelia von Kerssenbrock. Chamber music collaborations with violinist Yury Revich at the International Music Festival Koblenz and Summer Festival in Ostfriesland as well several concerts with Elphier Quartet - members of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.  

2023/24 stations were exciting debuts including Mozart piano concerto No. 9 with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and 5 concerts in Germany on Rachmaninoff piano concerto No.3 with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Jonathan Bloxham.Recitals at the Konzerthaus Berlin and a Live production at the Ehrbar Saal in Vienna performing Beethoven's sonata Op. 111 as well Liszt B minor sonata .  Furthermore he has received enthusiastic reactions in Asia: in Singapore at the Victoria Concert Hall, in Tokyo at the Sumida Triphony Hall and recitals in China in venues such as the NCPA Beijing, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou and the Mozart concertos with Wuhan Philharmonic at Qintai Concert Hall under Maestro Renchang Fu. Another tour was acclaimed with six concerts in Germany on a Beethoven program with violinist Tianwa Yang: “ A wonderful unity of music making”, observed by Süddeutsche Zeitung. One more get-together with his old friends: Brahms piano quintet Op. 34 with the vision string quartet on MS Europa 2 Concerts.  

In October 2022, Haiou Zhang made his orchestral debut at the sold-out Elbphilharmonie Hamburg which received minutes long standing ovations. At the same period have seen major concerts by Haiou Zhang in Germany's most prestigious venues: the great hall of the Philharmonie Berlin, the Gewandhaus Leipzig as well as the Meistersingerhalle Nuremberg or the Philharmonie Essen. Meanwhile, he was nominated for ICMA in November 2021 for his solo album "My 2020" (label hänssler CLASSIC) and two more ''Opus Klassik'' nominations. His Mozart CD with the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Fey was recorded as the official soundtrack for the Netflix series "Money Heist" (La Casa de Papel) and received attention worldwide. All his five CD albums have been selected by Lufthansa's onboard music program.

Other milestones include Mozart's Piano Concertos K 414 and 415 with Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Dvorak's Piano Quintet Op. 81 with the Philharmonic String Quartet at the Berlin Philharmonic's Welcome Back Week festival at the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin. A special encounter with the British pop legend Jarvis Cocker at the Berliner Festspiele in the production “Sleepless Nights” by BBC Radio 4 which he performed Rachmaninoff piano concerto No.3.  

Born in China, Haiou Zhang first studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, before continuing at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media with Prof. Bernd Goetzke. After numerous competition successes, Haiou Zhang launched his career in 2005/06 with celebrated performances at the Braunschweig Classix Festival, and has since appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Kissinger Sommer, Festival international de musique de Besançon and many others. In 2010, he founded his own festival in Lower Saxony: the International Music Festival Buxtehude/Altes Land/Harburg/Stade, which is aimed primarily at young audiences. Furthermore, he has been appointed music director of the Öschberghof Klassik concert series in Donaueschingen. Since spring 2021 he is appointed as Artistic Director of international concert series CONCERTS GRAND SALON in Zurich, Switzerland.

Haiou Zhang performs as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North and South America and Asia; his concert appearances have included the Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Nikolaisaal Potsdam, Brucknerhaus Linz, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Grand Theatre Shanghai, CBC Glenn Gould Studio Hall in Toronto, Sala São Paulo in Brazil, Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore and many others. As soloist his musical partners are the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Russian National Philharmonic, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Württemberg Kammerorchester Heilbronn, the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra, the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra, the State Orchestras of Braunschweig and Oldenburg, the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the Philharmonie Festiva and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bremerhaven, as well as internationally with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, the Filharmonie Hradec Králové in Czech Republic, the Slovak Sinfonietta, the Estonian Sinfonietta, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra, the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, the Siberian Symphony Orchestra, the Voronezh State Symphony Orchestra, the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra etc. and conductors such as Andrew Manze, Vladimir Spivakov, Nabil Shehata, Srba Dinić, Gerd Schaller, Thomas Fey, Martijn Dendievel, Kai Bumann, Wojciech Rajski, Marc Niemann, Hendrik Vestmann, James P. Liu, Vladimir Verbitsky, Kerry Stratton, Juri Gilbo, Florian Merz, Vahan Mardirossian etc.  

Haiou Zhang's chamber music partners include the vision string quartet, Quatuor Hermès, Quatuor Diotima, Gewandhaus Quartett, Mercore String Quartet, WDR Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players, Hába Quartet, Elphier Quartet and Eldbjørg Hemsing, Sarah Christian, Solenne Paidassi, Benedict Kloeckner, Alexander Hülshoff, Leonid Gorokhov, Christoph Heesch etc.

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.

Grand Prix at the fifth Vladimir Horowitz International piano competition and first Piano Duo competition in Shenzhen, China. Haiou Zhang was awarded the audience prize at the Piano Olympics at the Bad Kissingen Summer Festival, Gundlach Music Award and Dr. Maria Zbick Artist Award.Haiou Zhang was a visiting professor for Euro Arts Music Festival & Academy in Germany for teaching activities and also as a piano jury member of Harmonium OnlinePlus international music competition next to Tamas Ungar, Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Vache Sharafyan. His teaching activities covers prominent music conservatories in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xiamen and in Italy - Cagliari, Calabria, Brescia and Catania, as well in the USA, Canada and Singapore.