Jessica Zhu (born October 22, 1986) is a Chinese-American pianist who is currently undertaking a doctorate in musical arts (DMA) under the supervision of Paul Roberts and Caroline Rae at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, in London. She previously received a Master in Performance (MPerf) and an Artist Diploma with distinction from the Guildhall, where she studied with full scholarship as a 2009

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarshi ...

Early life and education

Zhu was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, where she began her musical study. At age 11, she moved with her family to

Sugar Land Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a po ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, near

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, where she studied piano for six years with John Weems. After graduating Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land, she completed her undergraduate studies in 2009 summa cum laude from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

( Moores School of Music), where she studied with renowned pianist-pedagogue Nancy Weems. Zhu has been invited to participate in master classes of pianists such as Pascal Rogé, Angela Hewitt, Anton Kuerti, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Peter Frankl, Abbey Simon, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Nelita True.

Concerts and performances

Zhu made her debut at age 19 in 2006 with the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

in Jones Hall. She gave her debut recital in Zilkha Hall of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston. She has soloed with numerous orchestras, including the Clear Lake Symphony, the Irving Symphony in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Fort Worth Civic Symphony, Brazos Valley Symphony in College Station, the Moores School Symphony Orchestra, and the Houston Civic Symphony. In April 2010, Zhu performed with the

Worthing Symphony Orchestra The Worthing Symphony Orchestra is the professional orchestra for the town of Worthing and the only professional orchestra in the England, English county of West Sussex. Founded in 1926, the orchestra was the first municipal orchestra in UK, Br ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England, under the baton of John Gibbons. A frequent guest recitalist, she has been invited to perform for the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy in Chicago in July 2009. Zhu has also performed recitals for the Rockport Performing Arts Series in Rockport, Texas, the San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club,

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

Fite Family Music Festival Young Artist Series, the McKinney Musical Arts Society in Dallas, the Wichita Falls Symphony League's ''First Night in the Falls'' Arts Festival. Zhu has also performed at the Texas Music Festival, Aspen Summer Festival in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and the Banff Arts Centre in Canada. She has been featured on ABC Television Network KTRK Channel-13 ''Visions'' program and KUHF 88.7 FM radio ''The Front Row'' arts magazine.

Competitions and prizes

* Silver medalist in the 2004 Junior Isabel Scionti Piano Solo Competition. * Grand-prize winner of the Texas Entergy Young Artist Competition in 2006 * First prize winner of the 2008 San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club Young Artist Competition * National Winner of the Young Artist Piano Competition of the 2008 Music Teachers National Association piano competitions in Denver, for which she received a Steinway & Sons grand piano. * Laureate of the

Sussex International Piano Competition The Sussex International Piano Competition is a music competition that takes place in Worthing, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 2010 by Worthing Symphony Orchestra (WSO) artistic director and conductor John Gibbons. It takes place at the ...

2010, receiving Third Prize and the Audience Prize."A 'thrilling' finale is assured in Worthing", Shoreham Herald, 10 April 2010 (se
article
* First prize at the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition 2011.

External links

Jessica Zhu, official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Jessica Living people 1986 births University of Houston alumni Texas classical music Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Musicians from Shanghai 21st-century American musicians American pianists