A popular guest of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Xian Zhang returned for concerts on 7, 8, 9 February 2025. With repertoire including Michael Abel’s Emerge, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto 1 with George Li, and Zemlinsky’s The Mermaid, their performances received glowing reviews:
“Zhang has since journeyed upward in the ranks of American orchestras. This fall, the 52-year-old Chinese-born conductor is set to take over as music director of the Seattle Symphony, where her dynamism is already winning her fans. She returned to the podium at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday morning, Feb. 7 — energy intact and with adventure awaiting in a large-scale tone poem, The Mermaid, by the once-forgotten Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky. […] Zhang proved to be a deft guide to the symphonic storyline […] Zhang and the orchestra kept the rhythms firm and the energy flowing.” – Richard S. Ginell, San Francisco Classical Voice
“the Los Angeles Philharmonic dexterously conducted by Xian Zhang. […] ebbed and flowed delightfully under Zhang’s superbly controlled baton. […] Powerful crescendos, carefully controlled dynamics and sectional balance by Zhang built the drama of the shipwreck. Shimmering strings, swelling to a light and brilliant dance, combined with undulations in the clarinets and techniques drawn from Berlioz and Strauss in evoking an enchanted, submerged ballroom.” – Leon Golub, Classical Scene
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega