Maestro Daniel Stewart is delighted to announce that internationally acclaimed violin soloist Nancy Zhou will be joining the Santa Cruz Symphony as our new Artist in Residence and Concertmaster! This special new title reflects her stature as one of the world's foremost violin virtuosos. It also means we are looking forward to her additional creative contributions to chamber music programming and development of other special engagement projects.
Our new Concertmaster is a probing musical voice infused with searing virtuosity. The winner of the 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition, Nancy Zhou’s musicianship resonates with a global audience and brings her on stage with the world’s leading orchestras.
At 13 years old, Nancy made her orchestral debut with her hometown San Antonio Symphony. She went on to collaborate with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Munich Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and many more. She has performed with stellar conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Sakari Oramo, Peter Oundjian, Eun Sun Kim, Christoph Poppen, and others of equal stature.
Nancy loves chamber music and guiding young musicians. She has performed at many international music festivals. In 2017, she was guest artist and faculty at Encore Chamber Music Festival. Holding masterclasses and private classes, she is a guest educator at summer festivals. She also teaches global students from an online studio.
Nancy also has explored nontraditional works. She presented Zhao Jiping's first violin concerto, and she gave the US premiere of Unsuk Chin's "Gran Cadenza" for two solo violins with Anne-Sophie Mutter. She will soon perform Chen Qigang's "La joie de la souffrance" and commission composer Vivian Fung to write a work for solo violin and electronics. The goal is to explore the intersection of Nancy’s personal family oral history, folk minority culture, and music.
Born in Texas to Chinese immigrants, Nancy learned the violin from her father. She studied with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory while pursuing literature at Harvard University. She is also an Associated Artist of the Queen Elisabeth Chapel, where she studied with Augustin Dumay.
A very special thanks to our former Concertmaster Nigel Armstrong for his significant talents as he prepares to move on to other career opportunities. You'll still get a chance to see Nigel perform as Concertmaster for our first concert of the season, Echos of Empire, on September 23 and 24.
This season, Nancy Zhou will perform with Santa Cruz Symphony in the following three programs. Note that she will be a featured soloist in the October concert. She will transition into a full season in 2024-25.
OCTOBER 21-22, 2023
Mozart: Overture to Le nozze di Figaro
Rossini: Overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Beethoven: Leonore Overture no. 3
Verdi: Overture to La forza del destino
Bizet: Carmen suites 1 & 2
Waxman: Carmen Fantasie feat. Nancy Zhou as soloist
MARCH 23-24, 2024
Jose Granero: Matsuri Overture
Schumann: Cello Concerto
Stravinsky: Petrushka
JUNE 8, 2024
John Williams Spectacular
