Ryan Zhang

Ryan Zhang is a junior living in Mather House. He is proudly serving as the Music Director of the Mozart Society Orchestra’s 2018-2019 season.

Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Zhang’s conducting debut was at Westminster Choir College, where he studied with James Jordan and Charles Bruffy. Since then, he has performed extensively with the West Windsor-Plainsboro North Philharmonic and music directed a production of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story with the West Windsor-Plainsboro North Musical Company. In 2016, Zhang was selected following a nationwide application process to be one of two apprentice conductors of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States. In that capacity, he received mentorship from Maestros James Ross, Christoph Eschenbach, and Emanuel Ax. Now, in addition to Music Directing the Mozart Society Orchestra at Harvard, he is the Assistant Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra. He currently studies with Jonathan Coopersmith, Professor of Conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music. 

As a pianist, Zhang studied as a scholarship student of Sandra Carlock at the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia, where he was also a member of the Myer Schwartz Advanced Study Trio. He has performed in masterclasses with Ensemble ACJW of Carnegie Hall, Dorian Leljack, Kensho Watanabe, and Seymour Lipkin.

Outside of music, Zhang is a Social Studies concentrator with sprawling interests in politics, philosophy, and history. Zhang competes on the Harvard Mock Trial team, chairs a policy group through the Institute of Politics, and works as a research assistant in the Department of Government.

Maestro Zhang can be reached at ryanzhang@college.harvard.edu.