Wanting Zhao was born in Shenyang, Northeast China, and began her piano studies at the age of four. At fifteen, her first place performance on the entrance examination earned her direct admission to the Middle School attached to the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China’s premier music school.
In 2009, Wanting was admitted to the School of Music at Texas Christian University on full scholarship as a winner of the prestigious Nordan Award. She studied with Cliburn Gold Medalist José Feghali for six years, and finished her final year with John Owings, chair of TCU’s piano department. In 2016, Wanting started her study at the Eastman School of Music to pursue a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Literature with Barry Snyder. Wanting has been a prize winner in many national and international piano competitions such as the Young Texas Artists Competition, the eleventh “Xing Hai” China National Piano Competition, the fourteenth Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, and the Oberlin International Competition, as well as a finalist in the Dallas and Eastman International Piano Competitions. In March 2019, Wanting won first prize in the William C. Byrd International Young Artist competition, and is invited to perform with the Flint Symphony Orchestra in Spring 2020.
Wanting has performed in solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and concerto performances in China, the United States and the United Kingdom. As a soloist, she has performed with China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Conroe Symphony Orchestra, TCU Symphony Orchestra and Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra. Her passionate and imaginative performance has been described by Hutchinson News as a pianist “who knows how to make music with technical proficiency and interpretive mastery”.
In 2021, Wanting graduated from Eastman School of Music’s DMA program, under the guidance of Professor Alan Chow. She is currently living in Beijing, China.
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