A MUSICAL SILK ROAD

ZHANG ZHANG, soprano, began singing in her high school choir, performing in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Korea as a soloist and lead singer. She graduated from the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing (CCOM), where she also obtained her master’s degree. She was selected to take part in an international master school organized by the renowned Juilliard School (2007). Zhang Zhang is a recipient of the national scholarship for studies at the Kodaly Institute of the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. In 2005, she was invited to perform a solo part in the Requiem by Gabriel Faure, under Maestro Ozawa Seiji. Her repertoire includes Bach, Handel, Mozart, Bellini, Schubert, Brahms, and others. As a soloist, Zhang Zhang has performed with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Macau Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and the Collegium Musicum Orchestra from Hong Kong. She has interpreted leading opera roles in China and Germany, including Semele from Handel’s opera Semele, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, and Sivene in Gluck’s opera Le Cinesi. Zhang Zhang works as a Lecturer in the Voice and Opera Department at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

JIONGTAO LI, baritone, is a winner of the Asia Music Vocal Competition (2014), of the second prize at the Cleveland International Vocal Competition (2014), and of an Honorable Award from the 7th Opera Concorso Competition. He is a member the Boston Chinese Musicians Association and a Voice Instructor at the Global Intercultural Performing Arts Cast Academy. Among his professors are Carol Mastrodomenico from the Longy School of Music (USA), Yong Chen from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music (China), and Haitao Hei from the Central Conservatory of Music (China). In 2017, he received a call from the Global Intercultural Performing Arts Cast and the Kolarac Concert Hall in Belgrade to appear at the East Meets West Concert. After a successful performance, Jiongtao Li was again invited to participate as a soloist in the premier of the Ode to the Yellow River from the cantata Yellow River in Serbia, with the International Prodigy Orchestra and Choir. He has also performed at the opening of the Belgrade BELEF Festival. Jiongtao Li also presents one of the leading roles in the opera A Midsummer Night's Dream. In May this year, he started touring the United States.

QUAN YUAN, violinist at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the All-Star Orchestra Montclair Symphony Orchestra, is the winner of the China International Young Artist Competition (2006), the Delaware Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition (2006), and the Denmark International Young Artist Competition (2000). Yuan began his violin studies at the age of four. After finishing the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, under Professor Wei Zhao, he became a student of Professor Joseph Silverstein in the USA. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and continued his studies under Professor Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory of Music. As a soloist and chamber musician, he performs across the United States, Europe, and Asia, at venues such as the Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, and Boston Symphony Hall, among many others. Quan Yuan has played with the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, China Youth Chamber Orchestra, Taipei Youth Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Pro Musica, Video Game Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory orchestras. Since 2012, he has been a member of the prestigious Beijing Musician Association. Currently, Quan Yuan is a visiting professor at the GIPAC Academy in the United States and China.

SHIXING YU, pianist, a young talent of the GIPAC Academy, started learning piano at the age of four. In his fourteen years of playing, he has won several international competitions, such as the 3rd Chinese Children’s Small Golden Bell Music Competition, the 4th Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the 9th Piano Competition in Guangzhou (China), the International Frederic Chopin Competition, and the International Piano Competition in Wiesbaden (Germany), among others. Shixing Yu has been chosen as an Idol of the Younger Generation by the Global Outstanding Chinese Artists Association and has given concerts across China. This year, he held a solo concert in Xiamen, and was also invited to play the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A major, K. 488 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra and the International Prodigy Orchestra, in Serbia. Shixing Yu has performed at numerous concerts under the direction of conductors John Mccarty, Ufar Artun, and Peng Liu. He is a student under Professors Xiaosheng Zhao, Ying Wu, and Mingqiang Li. Shixing Yu currently studies at the Conservatory of Music in Xinghai.

RONGZHI ZHANG, piano, became a talent of the GIPAC Academy at the tender age of six and was recognized as a national rising artist. She held her first solo concert at the age of nine. She has performed in famous halls across the world, such as Mixon Hall in Cleveland (USA), Shenyang Concert Hall (China), and Liaoning Grand Theater (China). Rongzhi Zhang has studied under some of today's leading piano teachers, including Stanislav Ioudenitch, Haesun Paik, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and William Grant Naboré. In 2018, she was invited to play the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in C minor, no. 2, op. 18 by Sergey Rachmaninoff, with the International Prodigy Orchestra in Serbia. Rongzhi Zhang is the winner of the Frederick Chopin 200th Anniversary Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Music Competition, the National Children’s Small Golden Bell Music Competition (China), and the Brandenburg International Music Competition. Rongzhi Zhang is currently a 7th-grade student at the Conservatory of Music in Shenyang.

EMILIJA PINTO, piano, graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. She studied Piano and Chamber Music at the International Academy of Trio di Trieste, as well as at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. At the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, she worked as a piano accompanist in the String and Wind Department. As soloist, she regularly plays in chamber ensembles and orchestras in Serbia, Italy, Scandinavia, and the United States. She has recorded for Radio Vaticana and Radio Tre, and her performances have been broadcasted by RTB and Austrian State Radio and Television. Emilija Pinto founded the Five O’Clock piano duo with pianist Massimiliano Chiappinelli, with whom, in 2015, she performed the contemporary music of Italian composers on a tour of the USA. She has taught at the Musicarea and at the Steiner Waldorf School in Florence, in Abu Dhabi, and in Serbia, where she has made significant contributions in working with visually impaired children.