Xian Zhang

“Zhang was at once commanding and exuberant, occasionally jumping or bending sharply at the waist to spur on the orchestra but often remaining fairly still – a riveting, dancer-like presence completely in the service of music, not showmanship.” (New Jersey Star-Ledger, February 2012)

"On Thursday in Music Hall, the gifted Chinese-born conductor Xian Zhang offered a sizzling interpretation of Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, and created a buzz in the audience that lasted long after the last notes had died away. She’s a dynamic presence on the podium, and she conducted most of her program from memory. The conductor projected intensity, flair and a fine musical mind as she led the orchestra through Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” Overture-Fantasie and Schumann’s Fourth Symphony in D Minor, the latter orchestrated by Mahler." (Cincinnati Enquirer, February 2012)

“Musically, everything is held together extremely well by Xian Zhang... In the first two parts she guides the small groups of musicians and singers energetically through the complicated rhythmics. And in ‘Le Rossignol' Zhang is exemplary for precision and reservedness.” (Trouw, January 2012)

“The Chinese conductor Xian Zhang shows that she knows exactly how to put on the finishing touches with Stravinsky - whether they be peasant witticisms, crooked bass lines or the enchanting sound mixtures that come to play after the break in Le Rossignol.” (De Volkskrant, January 2012)

“From the first upbeat [Xian Zhang] exudes authority, and last night she took the LSO confidently through an attractive programme exploring diverse aspects of modernism. To Bartók's Miraculous Mandarin Suite she brought a combination of steely dynamism and Technicolor brilliance that Bartok's brutalist score demands… Best was Zemlinsky's The Mermaid… Zhang drew beautifully blended textures from wind and brass, relishing the darker shadows thrown by cor anglais and bass clarinet.” (London Evening Standard, November 2011)

“Zhang got real magic from divided muted-string reveries as well as love-chemistry between maiden and prince… thanks to the LSO and Zhang, a conductor who clearly does the orchestra good, for taking the plunge.” (The Arts Desk, November 2011)

“Friday's performance of [Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5] was one of the smoothest, most well-connected readings of a major work the ISO has played recently. Zhang seemed to know exactly what she wanted from every detail, yet none of it was obtrusive. Everything flowed logically; the profusion of decorative niceties in the third movement, for example, fit into a coherent pattern.” (Indystar, October 2011)

“The talented Chinese conductor, who came to prominence by winning Lorin Maazel's conducting competition in 2002, has a vision for the piece, Mahler or not. With Mahler cleaning up some of Schumann's "clutter" -- and some repeat signs -- she connected the outer movements so clearly that you could actually hear the truly radical nature of this work for the time” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 2011)

“Xian Zhang led the Wiener Symphoniker with energy and a sensuousness of sound, giving the orchestra space for the undulating ups and downs.” (Neue Voralberger Tageszeitung, August 2011)

“For Alexander Scriabin’s La Poeme de l’extase, the NDR Sinfonieorchester transformed under the extremely flexible, intense and seemingly energetic Chinese conductor Xian Zhang in a catapult of silent, sitting ecstasy. The work flourished here, exhilarating with precision and level of fine detail. The location and the music found a very happy symbiosis.” (Hamburger Abendblatt, April 2011)