Conductor & Composer
JACK (JIN) ZHANG
Jack Jin Zhang was born in
Beijing, China. He received his initial musical education at
the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Then he travelled
to J apan
and studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan.
He studied conducting with Professor Morihiro Okabe and took
master classes with Maestros Kazuyoshi Akiyama and Seiji Ozawa.
Since coming to Canada in 1990, Jin has quickly become known
as a conductor and composer who actively promotes the appreciation
of and education in symphonic orchestral music and, no less,
the combining of Eastern and Western musical expressions.
Jin Zhang is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.
He presently holds the position of Music Director and Conductor
of the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Westminster
Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Intermediate
Orchestra. He also conducts the Vancouver Inter Culture Orchestra.
He is an artistic director of VBCm production. Recently he was
appointed guest professor in the Yunnan Wenhua Conservatory for
Arts in China.
Jin Zhang is a multiple recipient of commissioning grants from
the Canada Council for the Arts, and has composed for many ensembles,
TV productions, and CD recordings. Many of his compositions and
arrangements have been played by professional and community groups,
including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony
Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Some of his works
have been broadcast by the BBC, CBC, VTV and other networks.
In 2008, Jin released a recording of his compositions titled
“Tracingâ€. The production
of the CD was financially supported by the Canada Council for
the Arts, and the CD distributed by the Canadian Music Centre.
His second CD was released in China in 2010. Under the aegis
of the Pangea Arts Society, he was granted major Olympic arts
funding for the creation of a new work.
Jin has received many awards. In 2006, he was selected by the
Canadian Music Centre to be part of their new online initiative
titled "Composer Portraits - Influences of Many Musics".
This project focuses on Canadian composers who have come to Canada
from other countries, highlighting their valuable contributions
to Canadian music. In 2004, Jin was honoured by the City of New
Westminster for ten years of distinguished service to the New
Westminster Symphony Orchestra and the City.
In 2001, the film he composed music for – “Nu
Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China†–
received the Audience Award and Best Documentary at the Festival
Internazionale Cinema Delle Donne in Torino, Italy. In 1986,
he won second prize in a composition competition in the Central
Conservatory of Music, Beijing. In 1984, he won third prize in
a nation-wide composition competition in China. Recently, he
received an Artistic Achievement Award issued by the Vancouver
Chinese Culture Centre.
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