Short bio [~350 words]

Born in San Diego and raised in British Columbia and California’s Bay Area, pianist Andrew Zhou has been noted for his “great sensitivity” and “luminous technique” (Anaclase), as well as performances of “extraordinary energy” whose “sonic range and expressive power stun under his steely fingers” (ResMusica). Second-prize laureate at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans, where he garnered four special awards, Mr. Zhou has worked closely with leading composers of our time, including Unsuk Chin, Liza Lim, Tristan Murail, and Walter Zimmermann, as well with conductors such as Jonathan Nott, Jean-Philippe Wurtz, and Julien Leroy.

Polymathic in temperament, Mr. Zhou also composes, improvises, and opines on sundry topics intersecting the musical, social, and literary, frequently on Zhouology, his Substack newsletter. He is a fierce proponent of recovering and performing historically erased works, while his performances make the most complex contemporary scores accessible to audiences. Mr. Zhou has toured throughout France and has appeared in major venues such as the KKL (Lucerne Festival), Tongyeong Concert Hall, and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (Paris). He has been the recipient of commissioning grants from the Arts Council of Ireland, the Galaxie-y Funds, and the Fromm Foundation. His piano duo HereNowHear, which focuses on commissioning boundary-breaking repertoire centered on performances of Stockhausen’s Mantra, has been the dedicatee of numerous new works, including the recent premiere of an hour-long multimedia work by Loren Loiacono entitled “Do No Harm.”

Mr. Zhou is currently Assistant Teaching Professor at Syracuse University and teaches piano and chamber music at Cornell University, where he earned his doctorate. He has been a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Ulysses, and recently served for several years as a Contemporary Leader for the Lucerne Festival Academy. Primary teachers include Xak Bjerken (Cornell) and Bruce Brubaker (New England Conservatory), alongside influential work with Teresa Dybvig, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Tamara Stefanovich. His recent albums include the double disc of new two-piano music with HereNowHear, “sedgeflowers | MANTRA” (False Azure), which was described as “deeply principled” and “astonishingly inventive” (Sequenza21) as well as “Présences Lointaines” (Solstice), featuring rarely heard works from a three-hundred-year tradition of virtuosic French music.

Shortest bio [~150 words]

Raised in British Columbia and California, pianist Andrew Zhou was the second-prize laureate at the 2012 Concours International de Piano d’Orléans, garnering four special awards, and has collaborated closely with today’s leading composers, including Unsuk Chin and Liza Lim. He has received grants from the Arts Council of Ireland, the Galaxie-y Funds, and the Fromm Foundation. As half of the piano duo HereNowHear, he has commissioned boundary-breaking works centered on performances of Stockhausen’s Mantra, and has been a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Ulysses. He has served in a curatorial and teaching role as a Contemporary Leader for the Lucerne Festival Academy.

Mr. Zhou is currently Assistant Teaching Professor at Syracuse University and teaches piano and chamber music at Cornell University. Mr. Zhou received degrees with distinction from Stanford University, New England Conservatory, and Cornell University. His most recent albums include “sedgeflowers | MANTRA” and “Présences Lointaines” (Solstice), featuring rarities spanning 300 years of French keyboard music.

photo on page by Nidaa Aboulhosn