Xian Zhang

Conductor Xian Zhang is the Music Director of the Seattle Symphony and Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Under her artistic leadership, NJ Symphony won two awards at the mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards in 2022 for their concert films, including EMERGE. She became the Music Director of Seattle Symphony in the 2025-2026 season, after being a long-term collaborator since her debut in 2008.

As a guest conductor, Zhang appears regularly with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Her Deutsche Grammophon recording with the latter (Letters for The Future with Time for Three, released 2022) won Grammy awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo.

Other recent highlights include subscription programmes with Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s (including Brahms Requiem at Carnegie Hall), and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Zhang previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.