Nancy Zhou, violin

Sponsor Nancy Zhou

American violinist Nancy Zhou, emerging as one of today’s outstanding talents, is rapidly building an international profile after winning the inaugural Harbin International Violin Competition and the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition in 2018. 

The upcoming season of 2018/19 sees Nancy closing 2018 in a New Year’s Gala Concert with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra/Muhai Tang, in performance with the Shanghai Symphony/ Jaap van Zweden, and on tour with Long Yu, where she will debut with the China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony and once again collaborate with the Shanghai Symphony. In Europe, she will debut with the Sinfonica de Galicia in Spain and appear on tour with the Macao Youth Symphony, visiting Portugal and Germany. To cap off 2019, Nancy will make her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York String Orchestra/Jaime Laredo. 

Highlights from the subsequent season of 2019/20 include Nancy’s debut with the Kansas Symphony/Peter Oundjian, San Diego Symphony/Eun Soo Kim, IRIS Orchestra/Michael Stern, and Rogue Valley Symphony. Nancy will also reunite with Long Yu and the China Philharmonic on a tour in North and South America. Towards the end of the year, she will collaborate with David Stern and the Osaka Symphony to celebrate the centennial of Isaac Stern. 

From an early age, Nancy already gained experience by performing with an impressive list of orchestras. After making her orchestra debut in her hometown with the San Antonio Symphony at the age 14, she went on to collaborate with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony, among others. 

Alongside projects as a soloist, Nancy holds interest in chamber music and providing guidance to young musicians. She has appeared in recitals at the Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Ravinia Festival, and the Verbier Festival. From 2015 onwards, she has visited Taiwan for masterclasses and performed in the annual chamber music gala concert hosted by the Playing for Formosa Association. She has also visited the Encore Chamber Music Festival as faculty member. 

Born and raised in Texas, Nancy began the violin at age four under the guidance of her father, Long Zhou, who remained her teacher throughout her youth. She went on to study with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory while pursuing her interest in literature and earning a Bachelor’s of Arts at Harvard University. In 2008, Nancy caught the attention of Anne-Sophie Mutter and subsequently became a scholar of her foundation, by which she received personal support from Mutter and multiple performance opportunities across the globe. Currently, Nancy is artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she works closely with Augustin Dumay. 

Nancy plays on a Joseph Guarneri violin from 1730-33 known as the “l’Ame de del Gesu”, which has been kindly loaned to her from a private sponsor. 

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