Ningxin Zhan

Ningxin (Jen) Zhan is a 23-year-old classical pianist with a passionate mission to share music with diverse audiences worldwide. She has performed on major stages in China, Italy, Spain, and the United States. She began piano at age five and, at nine, was accepted into the Music School Affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a recipient of annual and multiple other scholarships. She currently studies with Dr. Steven Spooner and Prof. Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Ms. Zhan is the 2nd Prize recipient of the 2023 New York Franz Liszt Piano Competition, where she made her Carnegie Hall debut at both Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, performing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. She also won 1st Prize and the Best Scriabin Performance Award at the 2019 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, leading to an invitation from the Gulf Coast Symphony to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor in March 2022. Additional honors include top prizes at the 2023 Jacob Flier Piano Competition, the 2022 Yale Gordon Competition, the 2020 Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition, and the 2021 Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition.

Ms. Zhan has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, PianoTexas International Festival & Academy, the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz, the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution. In 2023, she was awarded the Clara Wells Fellowship from the American Matthay Association for Piano, and she is a 2026 Gilmore Piano Festival Fellow. In her spare time, she enjoys visiting art museums and songwriting.