Zhou Tian
Grammy-nominated Composer
Indigo from Concerto for Orchestra (excerpt)
Louis Langrée/Cincinnati Symphony
“Absolutely beautiful…utterly satisfying”
—FANFARE
“Works like…Mr. Zhou’s orchestral piece accomplish two important things: They remind us of how we got from there to here, and they refine that history by paying belated tribute to contributors who might otherwise be forgotten.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“a prime example of 21st-century global multiculturalism”
—Broad Street Review
GRAMMY NOMINATION
Zhou nominated for a 60th Annual GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for his Concerto for Orchestra (listen / hire), making him the first Chinese-born composer honored by the Academy in this category. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Louis Langrée, who commissioned and recorded the work, were also nominated for Best Orchestral Performance.
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC PREMIERES “GIFT”
The New York Philharmonic conducted by Long Yu gave the US premiere of Zhou’s Gift (listen / hire) at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.
“The Philharmonic presented the U.S. premiere of a spectacular new piece by Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian…The piece sustains a concise, beautifully ordered narrative, yet is full of surprises. Long Yuʼs tightly focused direction matched Zhouʼs mastery of the colors of the orchestra, turning the performance into a triumph of musical universality as well as fine writing.”
—Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
World Premiere: VIOLIN CONCERTO “Night Tour”
Violin Concerto “Night Tour” (listen / hire) premieres at the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition as the commissioned new work. Considered one of the premier music competitions in the world with a US$100,000 top prize, the Stern violin competition boasts a jury that includes violinists Maxim Vengerov, Glenn Dicterow, Ning Feng, Joel Smirnoff, and more.
Night Tour takes listeners on a musical voyage to splendidness after dark. The piece draws inspiration from various cultures and aims to seamlessly blend them. Six winners of prestigious competition performed the work in 6 cities around the world: Rino Yoshimoto (Japan). Thomas Lefort (France), Ruifeng Lin (China), Felicitas Schiffner (Germany), Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong, China), and Shannon Lee (United States).
S/S23 Orchestral Highlights
Spring/summer 2023 sees orchestral performances from the Baltimore Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and London Philharmonic (Gift); Cincinnati Symphony (The Palace of Nine Perfections), San Francisco Symphony (Transcend), Allentown Symphony (Flute Concerto), and Mannes Orchestra (Concerto for Orchestra); Shanghai Symphony (Rise), National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra (Broken Ink), and Guangzhou Symphony (Metropolis). Additionally, Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra tours Spain and Switzerland, becoming one of the few guest orchestras at the prestigious Verbier Festival (Metropolis).
Sinfonia wins Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award
Sinfonia (listen / hire) for wind ensemble was selected as the 2022 Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award winning composition, organized by the American Bandmasters Association and John Philip Sousa Foundation. The 20-minute work was jointly commissioned by 13 leading university bands in the US. Zhou Tian became the first Asian-American to win the Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award in its 66-year history.
World Premiere: FLUTE CONCERTO
Irises. Capriccio. Arioso. Toccata. These are four movements that infuse Zhou’s new Flute Concerto (listen / hire), written for acclaimed flutist Mimi Stillman and commissioned by a national consortium of orchestras. From tranquil meditations to wild rituals, the concerto is empowered by tradition while exploring the diversity of musical styles through reflection on the flute’s long and rich heritage. Premiered by Stillman and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Chamber Orchestra conducted by Col. Jason K. Fettig. A world premiere recording was released in December 2023.
European & Japan premieres of Concerto for Orchestra
Basque National Orchestra (Euskadiko Orchestra) under Music Director Robert Treviño gave the European premiere of the Grammy-nominated Concerto for Orchestra (listen / hire) in the Basque country, Spain. Acclaimed pianist Yulianna Avdeeva gave encore performances of Crystal for piano solo. Performances in Bilbao, San Sebastián, Vitoria, and Pamplona. Treviño and the Osaka Philharmonic gave the Japan premiere of Concerto for Orchestra.
Tianjin Juilliard Residency
Zhou Tian joins the Tianjin Juilliard School as the resident composer for the inaugural Festival Connect. Zhou’s Flowing Sleeves for cello and piano quintet, co-commissioned by the Juilliard School and the Tianjin Juilliard School, receives its world premiere led by faculty cellist Yeonjin Kim. Flutist Gergely Ittzés with the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Chen Lin give the Chinese premiere of Viaje for flute and strings.
Shanghai symphony residency
Zhou Tian appointed Artist-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He is the second composer to hold the title in the orchestra’s 140-year history. Zhou will work closely with Music Director Long Yu and renowned guest artists such as Jaap Van Zweden, Ion Marin, Domingo Hindoyan, David Stern, cellist Jian Wang and violinist Olga Sroubkova on eight of his orchestral works. A newly commissioned work, Gift for orchestra, opens the orchestra’s 140th season.
Artist of the year, Beijing
Beijing Music Festival names composers Zhou Tian and Du Yun “Artist of the Year” (2019). Past recipients of this prestigious award include Krzysztof Penderecki, Isaac Stern, Mischa Maisky, Philip Glass, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, and Rudolf Buchbinder. Mahler Chamber Orchestra performs two works by Zhou at this year’s festival.
NEW DOCUMENTARY GETS NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
The Work of Art, a PBS documentary chronicling the making of Zhou’s Transcend (listen / hire) received national distribution and is available to stream at PBS.org. The hour-long documentary received a Silver Telly Award for Best Documentary – Individual. Transcend was commissioned by 13 American orchestras commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion.
Grammy-nominated Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian (JOH TEE-en) seeks inspiration from different cultures and strives to mix them seamlessly into a musically satisfying combination for performers and audience alike. The Wall Street Journal states his works “accomplish two important things: They remind us of how we got from there to here, and they refine that history by paying belated tribute to contributors who might otherwise be forgotten.”
His music — described as “absolutely beautiful…utterly satisfying” (Fanfare), “stunning” (the Cincinnati Enquirer), and “a prime example of 21st-century global multiculturalism” — has been performed by leading orchestras and performers in the United States and abroad, such as Jaap Van Zweden, Yuja Wang, the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, “The President’s Own” US Marine Band, and Shanghai Symphony, where he recently served as the Artist-in-Residence. His Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned and recorded by Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony, earned him a GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2018, making him the first Chinese-born composer and the second Asian composer (following Tōru Takemitsu) honored in that category. In 2019, Beijing Music Festival named him “Artist of the Year.” In 2022, he became the first Asian-American to win the coveted Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award (Sinfonia).
Born into a musical family in 1981 in Hangzhou, China, Zhou moved to the United States when he was 19. Trained at the Curtis Institute of Music (B.M.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the University of Southern California (D.M.A.), he studied with some of America’s finest composers, such as Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Rouse and Stephen Hartke. He is associate professor of composition at Michigan State University.
How do you say ‘Zhou Tian’?
“Stunning”
—THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
“The musical language was rich, opulent, luxurious, infinitely varied and, at times, profoundly beautiful…This was a lovely performance of what deserves to become a classic of the cello concerto repertory.”
—the Straits Times (Singapore)
“He is unafraid of monumental gestures, but at the same time he wastes nothing, whether notes or our time itself…The strings’ luster made me wish I could stop writing and just listen.”
—American Record Guide