Visiting Professor, The Yehudi Menuhin School Qingdao

Professor, Central Conservatory of Music

Distinguished Professor, China Conservatory of Music

Contracted Composer with the World-renowned Music Publisher Schott Music, Germany

National Talent of Cultural Celebrities and Cultural Publicity Talents Program, China

Recipient of the “National Virtuous and Skillful Art Worker” Honorary Title

Zhang Zhao was born in Yunnan, China and spent 14 years living in the Ailao Mountains in Southern Yunnan, immersed in the music of various local ethnic groups. From a young age, he showed a deep love for fine arts, poetry, and calligraphy. At the age of 5, he began learning the yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) with his mother, Ma Jingfeng, followed by violin at 6, piano at 7, accordion at 10, and composition with his father Zhang Nan at 11. At 14, he studied piano for five years at the Yunnan Arts School by the Dianchi Lake, under the tutelage of Zhuang Yuanying and Professor Ye Junsong, receiving guidance from Fu Cong, Zhu Gongyi, Yang Jun, and Zhou Guangren. During his studies, he composed a large number of piano and violin pieces, songs, and orchestral works. In 1987, he graduated from the Central University for Nationalities (now Minzu University of China) with double degrees in composition and piano, studying under Xia Zhongtang and Xiang Shizhong. In 1998, he graduated from the graduate program in composition at the Central Conservatory of Music, studying under Professor Guo Wenjing.

Zhang Zhao is the first Chinese composer whose works were selected for piano grading exams by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College London, as well as in Australia. He has been invited to compose for many famous musicians, including Sheng Zhongguo, Lang Lang, Li Yundi, and Han Lei. His compositions have been described by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as “unparalleled modern works.” Zhang Zhao served as the music director for the "Colorful China" world tour by the Chinese National Ethnic Affairs Commission and visited dozens of countries in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa over nearly a decade. His pursuit of combining ethnic characteristics with personal style and his authentic natural musical style have earned his works numerous awards in domestic competitions such as the "Golden Bell Awards", "Splendor Award", and the “Best Works Award”, as well as in international competitions in the USA, Japan, and Australia. His biography and works are included in the "Chinese Musicians Dictionary", "Chinese Symphony Music Expo", and "A Century of Classics of Chinese Piano Solo Works".

Zhang Zhao's representative works are numerous and include string quartet "Totem", piano pieces "Pi Huang", "Three Folk Songs of South Yunnan", "Chinese Dream", "Numa Ame", "Nature No. 1", piano concertos "Ailao Rhapsody", "Splendors", orchestral works "Three Dances of the Mountain", "Five Colors of Yunnan", "Dawn • Sunrise", Symphony "Song of Resurrection", large-scale national orchestral suite "Harmony of the Seven Colors", national orchestral "Gan Jiang Mo Ye Fantasia", erhu concerto "Sun Sacrifice", liuqin concerto “Dance of the Bronze Drum", ruan concerto "Song of the Sun and Moon", pipa concerto "Song of Heaven and Earth", the first yangqin concerto "Pangu", the second yangqin concerto "Harmony", choral "Spring Has Come", four-act lyric opera "The Mustard Seed Garden", three-act legendary opera "Flowing Water" (co-composed with his father Zhang Nan), dance drama "Prairie Memory", musical "My Ulan Muqir", large-scale forest stage play "Border Town", album "Myth - Ancient Legends from the Classic of Mountains and Seas", and more. He has also composed music for films and TV shows such as "Woman For Rent", "Lotus Lantern", "Dongfang Shuo", "The Phoenix Seeks His Mate", and "49 Days Memorial".

Throughout his extensive career in music education, Professor Zhang Zhao has nurtured numerous talents in music composition and performance, who have gone on to gain fame on prestigious stages both in China and abroad.