Nathaniel Zhang, piano

Meet Nathaniel

Nathaniel performs on Show 429.

Nathaniel Zhang (piano), 15, hails from Folsom, California, and is a student at Folsom High School. He started learning piano at the age of five. He is currently studying with Dr. Sasha Starcevich and he previously studied with Tien Hsieh. Nathaniel performed in Carnegie Hall at the age of eight and had his first solo recital at the age of ten. He made his orchestral debut with the Florence Conservatory Orchestra at Music Fest Perugia, Italy. Nathaniel has won accolades at many piano competitions. He is the 2023 National YoungArts Finalist winner as well as a medalist at the 2023 Hilton Head International Piano Competition. He performed with the Philharmonia Northwest in May 2022, and will perform with the Seattle Symphony and Auburn Symphony in the 2022-2023 season as the Grand Prize Winner of their Young Artist competitions. He is a First Place and Chopin Award winner of the 2018-2019 National MTNA Junior Performance Competition and the First Place winner of the 2019 Waring International Junior Solo Competition and Junior Concerto Competition. In 2021, Nathaniel participated in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition. He won Second Place and the Young Jury Award at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, Fifth Place at the Young Artist category of the International-e-Piano Junior Competition, and Second Place at the San Jose International Piano Competition. Other achievements include First Places in the 2019 CAPMT Concerto Competition California State Final, the 2018 & 2015 CAPMT Honors Competition California State Final, and the 2018 Pacific Musical Society Competition. He was the gold medalist of the 2019 Chopin Foundation Northwest Council Competition. Nathaniel loves sharing music with people of all ages and enjoys public performance. He played piano for first-graders in elementary school, and his story was featured on ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir in the segment “America Strong.” Nathaniel also enjoys playing chamber music and regularly performs at the “Rising Stars of Chamber Music” concerts. He also loves watching sports and is a diehard fan of the Sacramento Kings.