Shichao Zhang - Piano
Northwestern University
Shichao Zhang holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Chamber Music and Accompanying, at the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Douglas Humpherys and Professor Jean Barr. He taught at the Eastman for seven years as a faculty of the Primary/Secondary Piano Program, Class Piano Teacher, and a Studio Teaching Assistant. Zhang was a winner of the 2013-2014 Eastman Teaching Assistant Prize. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at Eastman with summa cum laude and the Humanity Prize in 2012, and the Master’s degree in Piano Performance and Literature at Eastman in 2014. Zhang is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda, a National Music Honor Society. Originally from China, Zhang received his early training in Beijing, where he studied with Madam Yafen Zhu and Ms. Chen Zhang.
Zhang has won numerous prizes in competitions including the Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition, the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition, the New York MTNA Steinway Young Artist Competition, the 2011 Jefferson Symphony International Young Artists Competition, the Iowa International Piano Competition and the Metropolitan International Piano Competition. His playing has been praised as “Mr. Zhang has excellent technique and is a very probing musician...” “Shichao’s performances reflect a great musicality, depth of interpretation, and technical expertise…”
Zhang has performed solo recitals, chamber-music concerts, and concerto performances throughout China, the United States, and Europe, including: China National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Forbidden City Concert Hall, the National Library of China Concert Hall, the Eppley Auditorium and Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, Iowa, and the Rialto Center for the Arts in Atlanta. In the New York State, he has performed frequently at Eastman Theater, Eastman Kilbourn Hall, as well as the Geneva Smith Center for the Arts, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music (NYC), and WXXI 91.5 radio. He has debuted compositions of contemporary composers, such as Xin Huguang, Xue Jin, and Julian Cochran. He has been an adjudicator for many competitions, including the 3rd Macau-Asia Pacific Youth Piano Competition, the 18th Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition, the Prime Golden Bell Music Award of China, the Jiangxi Preliminary of the 3rd Kyoto International Music Competition.
Dr. Zhang is currently on the faculty at the Bienen School of Music at the Northwestern University, and is a Visiting Professor at the Helongjiang University of Technology in China. He has been a full-time Visiting Artist-in-Residence at the Music Department of Skidmore College, where he taught a full studio and coached chamber music. In addition, Zhang has taught and coached solo piano and chamber music of students from the Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College School of Music, East Tennessee State University, Morningside College, Minzu University School of Music (Beijing, China), etc. His students have been accepted by schools such as Boston Conservatory, Bowling Green State University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, DePaul University, East Tennessee State University, Ithaca College, Longy School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, Michigan University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Colorado Boulder, University of South Carolina, USC Thornton School of Music, and Temple University, etc.
Dr. Zhang serves as the Festival Coordinator of the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Italy, and Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain.