Nancy Zhou

Professor, Tianjin Juilliard School.

Known for her penetrating, expressive musical voice and dazzling virtuosity, Nancy Zhou seeks to revive interest in the art and science of violin playing. Her reflective musicality and strong online presence reach a global audience, leading her to stages with the world’s leading orchestras.

More than 20 years after her orchestral debut, Nancy has collaborated with ensembles such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hangzhou Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony. As a passionate soloist who values chamber collaboration and educational responsibility, she has appeared at festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Tongyeong Music Festival, and Marvão Festival. She is also regularly invited as a pedagogue to international summer courses and festivals, where she leads not only masterclasses but also workshops devoted to fundamental training and musicians’ well-being.

Over the years, her interest in cultural heritage and the humanities has resulted in a series of significant collaborations in the United States and China. In cooperation with the New Jersey Symphony and Xian Zhang, she presented the first violin concerto by Zhao Jiping at Alice Tully Hall; performed the American premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Gran Cadenza for two solo violins together with Anne-Sophie Mutter; interpreted La joie de la souffrance by Chen Qigang with the Rogue Valley Symphony; and, in collaboration with the La Jolla Symphony, gave the West Coast premiere of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1. On the other side of the globe, in the past season Nancy presented three fundamental violin concertos during a tour of five cities in China, collaborating with, among others, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, and Hohhot Philharmonic.

In the summer of 2025, Nancy embarked on a research journey with Canadian-born Chinese composer Vivian Fung to Zhejiang in China—the home village of the violinist’s mother, a former professional folk dancer. The project will culminate in a work for violin and electronics exploring the interaction of music as a cultural force with the cultures of ethnic minorities. In October 2024 Nancy recorded her debut album STORIES (re)TRACED, an artistic response to these issues. The critically acclaimed album contains four key, inseparably connected works for solo violin, including Béla Bartók’s Sonata, and was released in June 2025 by Orchid Classics.

The 2025/26 season brings collaborations with, among others, the Puerto Rico Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Austin Symphony, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, Orquestra Vigo 430, and San Antonio Philharmonic, as well as recital performances in Europe and China.