Nuoya Zhang

Coming February 1, 2024

Nuoya Zhang is an emerging Chinese classical pianist who has made significant strides in her music career since her early beginnings in Shenyang, China. At age 12, Zhang entered the Affiliated School to the Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China), where she ranked first in her class. She studied under the tutelage of the renowned pianist Danwen Wei, one of the last pupils of the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Zhang made her concerto debut, performing Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, with the Shenyang Conservatory Orchestra during her middle school years at the age of 16. Zhang moved to the United States to attend the Juilliard School where she then completed her Bachelor’s degree. Under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal, her time at Juilliard played a pivotal role in shaping her as a young artist, providing her with abundant performance experiences on world-class stages, including the Lincoln Center for the Juilliard Chamberfest. Additionally, She participated in the Juilliard-Columbia Exchange Project, studying at Columbia University. Later, Zhang continued to pursue her musical aspirations in New York at the Mannes School of Music, where she studied with J. Y. Song. Zhang received the President Merit Scholarship and became a featured artist at the Mannes Sounds Festivals, where she performed works by living composers, including Joan Tower’s No Longer Very Clear and Michael Schelle’s Hammerstein. In 2019, Zhang obtained her Master's degree from Mannes, and she was awarded the Steinway & Sons Award, a prestigious accolade given to the most promising young pianists. In 2021, Zhang received a full scholarship to continue her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) under the guidance of distinguished international concert pianist Awadagin Pratt. Displaying enthusiasm and passion for both music and teaching, Zhang currently serves as the Studio Teaching Assistant of Professor Pratt and a Graduate Assistant in the Secondary Piano Department, working under Professor Michelle Conda. Zhang is currently studying with Dr. Polina Bespalko at CCM. She recently won the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition and performed Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 with the CCM Concert Orchestra in March 2023, in the Corbett Auditorium at CCM. Throughout her career, Zhang has had the privilege of performing for exceptional musicians such as Hung-Kuan Chen, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Alexander Kobrin, Ursula Oppens, Matti Raekalio, etc. She has graced the stage as both a soloist and a chamber musician in numerous cities in China and the United States, including Beijing, Shenyang, New York, Cincinnati, and Wilmington, NC.