American-Canadian pianist Andrew Zhou has been noted for his “great sensitivity” and “luminous technique” (Anaclase) whose “sonic range and expressive power are astounding under his steely fingers” (ResMusica). Finalist and laureate of four prizes at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans (France), where he won the Prix Samson François, Prix Chevillion-Bonnaud, Prix Olivier Greif, and the prize for the best performance of a work by Isang Yun, Mr. Zhou has worked closely with leading composers of our time, including Unsuk Chin, Liza Lim, Tristan Murail, Matthias Pintscher, and Walter Zimmermann. He has, in addition, been the dedicatee and first performer of works of countless composers of a younger generation, including Loren Loiacono, and Christopher Stark, and Doyoon Kim, whose work was especially commissioned for Mr. Zhou by Unsuk Chin for Isang Yun’s centenary celebration in his hometown of Tongyeong, South Korea.
Mr. Zhou has toured throughout France and has appeared in major venues such as the KKL (Lucerne Festival), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (Paris), and has taken part in residencies at the Avaloch Farm Institute (New Hampshire), Tanglewood Music Center (Massachusetts), and has studied with performed with soloists of Ensemble InterContemporain. He has recently been the recipient of commissioning grants from the Arts Council of Ireland, the Fondation Galaxie-Y, and the Center for Historical Keyboards at Cornell. As half of HereNowHear, a piano duo with Ryan McCullough focused on new works (and centered on performances of Stockhausen’s Mantra), he has received works from several composers, including John Liberatore, whose Sedgeflowers (supported by the Fromm Foundation), will be performed alongside Mantra in 2021. He has been a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Ulysses.
Primary teachers include Xak Bjerken, Bruce Brubaker, and Thomas Schultz, alongside influential work with Stephen Drury, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Tamara Stefanovich. He has received degrees from Stanford University, New England Conservatory, and Cornell University. Currently, he is visiting lecturer in piano at Cornell University. A fierce proponent of recovering historically erased works, he has served on the Diversity Steering Committee for the Lucerne Festival Academy and is a member of the ONEcomposer initiative.
His recordings include “Presences lointaines, “Vienne et après,” (featuring premiere recordings of works by Pintscher and Olga Neuwirth), “In Memoriam Paul Zukofsky,” with Aaron Likness (the final disc on the historic CP2 label of two-piano works by Stravinsky, Satie, Hauer, and Craig Pepples), as well as contributions to recordings on the Open Space, New Focus, and Aeon labels. Upcoming projects include a recording project of rare French Romantic repertoire. He also composes and writes on sundry topics of musical, educational, and literary interests. His crossword puzzles have also been featured in the New York Times.
