ZHANG Xian’s contract as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has been extended until the 2023/24 season, to include the orchestra’s 100th anniversary in 2022. Of her final concerts in 2017/18, conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, NJ.com wrote, “From the opening bars, ZHANG imbued the work with majesty, creating the alpine atmospherics that the score calls for. The off-stage horns sounded perfect and the deep pull of Mahler's music was in full effect. ZHANG made the swooping waltzes of the second movement come to life and gave the bluesy, jazzy third movement an elegant light touch. The final movement was big and bold; the horns stood up in the grand finale and made beautiful, clarion sounds. The brass section of the NJSO has never sounded better. The NJPAC audience was on its feet at the end. This is now ZHANG's orchestra – how far can she take it between now and 2024?"

 

 

Born in Dandong, China, ZHANG Xian made her professional debut conducting Le nozze di Figaro at the Central Opera House in Beijing at the age of 20. She trained at Beijing’s Central Conservatory, earning both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, and served one year on its conducting faculty before moving to the United States in 1998. She was appointed as the New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.

 

 

For 90 years, BBC National Orchestra of Wales has been at the heart of the cultural landscape of Wales, and occupying a distinctive role as both broadcast and national symphony orchestra. It performs a busy schedule of concerts throughout Wales and the rest of the UK, led by its artistic team of Principal Guest Conductor ZHANG, Conductor Laureate Tadaaki Otaka and Composer- in-Association Huw Watkins. Part of BBC Wales and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, the Orchestra is an ambassador for Welsh music, championing contemporary composers and musicians. The Orchestra also works closely with BBC National Chorus of Wales, one of the leading large mixed choruses in the UK.

 

1. Mikhail Glinka
Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila
2. Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33

 

- Intermission -

3. Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47