Xian Zhang

Conductor Xian Zhang is one of modern classical music’s biggest trailblazers. She was the first woman to conduct the German orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden in its home venue, and in 2015, she became the first woman to have a title role with a BBC Orchestra when she became principal guest conductor of The BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Born in 1973 in China, Zhang was initially inspired by a tape of the Cincinnati Pops and later studied under the tutelage of two female conductors. At age 19, she made her debut with the China National Opera Orchestra conducting Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (1786), and after moving to the U.S. in the late ’90s, she began a longtime association with the New York Philharmonic. In the years since, she has maintained an international profile and as of 2022 was music director of the New Jersey Symphony, where she has commissioned pieces by composers such as Qigang Chen and Vivian Li, along with an annual Lunar New Year Celebration concert.