Conductor & Composer
JACK (JIN) ZHANG
Mr. Jin Zhang, associate
composer of the Canadian Music Centre, was born  in
Beijing, China. He received his first musical education at the
Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Then he traveled to
Japan and studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo,
Japan. He studied conducting with Professor Morihiro Okabe. He
also studied conducting with maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama and Seiji
Ozawa.
Jin Zhang came to Canada in 1990. Currently Maestro Zhang holds
the position of Music Director and Conductor in the Vancouver
Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Westminster Symphony Orchestra,
and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Intermediate Orchestra. He is
also an artistic director of VBCm production. As a composer,
he has received many grants from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Many of his compositions and arrangements have been played by
professional and community groups including the Calgary Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
In 2004, Jin Zhang was honoured by the City of New Westminster
for ten years of distinguished service to the New Westminster
Symphony Orchestra and the City. In 2006, Jin was selected by
the Canadian Music Centre to be part of their new online initiative
entitled "Composer Portraits - Influences of Many Musics".
This project will focus on Canadian composers who have come to
Canada from other countries, highlighting their valuable contribution
to Canadian music. Recently, his composition album CD "Tracing"
was nominated to the Western Canada Music Award. Currently he
is working under the aegis of the Pangaea Arts Society for a
project which received a grant from major Olympic arts funding.
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