Daxun Zhang
張達尋,
Double Bass
“If
the bass is finally to produce a headliner, the instrument can have no
better champion,” wrote The Washington Post of double bassist DAXUN
ZHANG, who has indeed made his mark as a soloist on this unusual
instrument.
In April 2007, Mr. Zhang won an Avery Fisher Career Grant, only the
second double bassist in the history of this prestigious award. This
summer he was invited by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han to
participate in the chamber music festival Music@Menlo in California and
performs Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet at the Indiana University Summer
Chamber Music Series. During the 2007-2008 season he continues his
residency with Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two, and performs
with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project in a series of concerts and cultural
exchanges in China. He performs as soloist with the University of
Northern Colorado Symphony and gives recitals at Indiana University,
Rodef Shalom Congregation (PA), and McCain Performances (KS).
Mr. Zhang has performed extensively with the Silk Road Project,
including concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie
Hall, and in Japan and California. With Mr. Ma he recorded the
soundtrack to a 10-part documentary series on the Silk Road, which aired
in Japan on NHK Television. The CD was released as “Silk Road Journeys:
Beyond the Horizon” on Sony Classical. He has also joined with fellow
Silk Road musician and pipa player Yang Wei and pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi
to form the innovative chamber ensemble Qi Lin.
As concerto soloist, Mr. Zhang has appeared with orchestras including
Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, the
Grand Rapids Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle and the
Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra. He has given recitals at the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Kravis Center for the Performing
Arts, the University of Georgia, Missouri State University, and at the
Chinese Embassy in the Embassy Series in Washington, DC. He has also
performed chamber music at the La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, the
Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati, the Strings in the Mountains
Music Festival and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival.
DaXun Zhang is the first double bass player to win the Young Concert
Artists International Auditions and start a career under the auspices of
Young Concert Artists. He made his New York debut sponsored by the
Claire Tow Prize and his Washington, DC debut as a co-presentation with
Washington Performing Arts Society. He also won the La Jolla Music
Society Prize, the Orchestra New England Soloist Prize, and The Fergus
Prize. In April 2006, Mr. Zhang performed Bizet’s Carmen Fantasy in at
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall with Keith Lockhart conducting the
Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
DaXun Zhang comes from a family of bassists in Harbin, China. He has
been playing the instrument since the age of nine, and studied at the
Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing beginning at the age of eleven.
He continued his studies in the U.S. at the Interlochen Arts Academy and
received his Bachelor of Music at the Indiana University School of
Music, where he worked with Lawrence Hurst. He has served on the faculty
of Northwestern University and was recently appointed Assistant
Professor of Double Bass at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Zhang was the first double bassist ever to win First Prize in the
2003 WAMSO (Women's Auxiliary of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra)
competition, leading to a performance with the Minnesota Symphony
Orchestra with Osmo Vanska, conducting. In 2001, Mr. Zhang was the
youngest artist ever to win the International Society of Bassists Solo
Competition. He has also received the Grand Prize of the American String
Teachers Association National Solo Competition.
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Thank you for
your generous contribution to
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
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中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts |
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