Pianist Cheng Zhang brings a deep insight into the music he interprets through his own pursuit for truth. He first received an international recognition in 2011 by winning both the Haskil prize and public prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil International Piano Competition.
A native of China, Cheng made his U.S. debut at the age of sixteen with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra performing Liszt Piano Concerto No.1 in 2006, since then he has collaborated with ensembles worldwide such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonietta de Lausanne and Musikkollegium Winterthur among many others and has performed under the renowned batons of Maestro Jesús López Cobos, Leon Fleisher, Louis Langrée, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Kazuki Yamada.
As a sensitive and emotional recitalist, he garnered critical acclaim for his performances at such venues including Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Théâtre des Champs-Élysée in Paris, Stravinski Auditorium in Montreux and Philharmonic in Warsaw. Highlights in recent years include appearances at Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Verbier Festival Academy, Festival Septembre Musical de Montreux-Vevey, Schubertiade from Espace 2, Bonn Robert Schumannfest and Nohant Chopin Festival.
Since 2016, after winning the Schumann Piano Competition in Zwickau, Cheng has established himself as a distinguished Schumann interpreter of his generation in the recent concert seasons. He made his hugely successful debut recital with all three Schumann Piano Sonatas (op.11, 14, 22) at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 2017. The live recording of this concert was broadcasted by MDR in Germany as well as by RTBF in Belgium.
The following year Cheng recorded his first all- Schumann album live at Église Saint-Marcellin de Névache in France. This recording released in June 2019 by Accentus music was met with high acclaim for which Carsten Dürer from PIANONews wrote: here is a real Schumann artist at the keyboard whilst Gramophone called Cheng’s playing a model of preternatural clarity... his Humoreske is deeply persuasive.
His second album featuring piano works by Bartok was released by Claves in 2020. It received much critical acclaim including Coup de coeur from Classica.
Cheng studied with Klaus Hellwig at the Universität der Künste Berlin in Germany, where he now lives. He holds a degree from TCU School of Music under the guidance of Tamás Ungár. Before moving to the United States, he attended the Shenzhen Arts School in China, where he was a pupil of Dan Zhaoyi.