Xian Zhang is currently in her seventh season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony, which marks its 100th anniversary season in 2022–23. She also holds the positions of principal guest conductor of the Melbourne Symphony and conductor emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. Ms. Zhang’s 2022–23 engagements include the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony, Singapore Symphony, and Orchestre National de Lille. Previous engagements include Philharmonia Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. In recent seasons she conducted the Orchestre National de Lyon at the Paris Philharmonie and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France as part of La Folle Journée festival in Nantes. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2018.

In the opera world, Ms. Zhang returns to Norwegian Opera for Tosca, which she recently conducted at Cincinnati Opera. She will make her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2024. Previous productions include Nabucco with Welsh National Opera, Otello with Savonlinna Festival, La traviata for Norwegian Opera, La bohème for English National Opera, and La forza del destino with National Opera.

Ms. Zhang previously served as principal guest conductor of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. She was the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002 she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition and was also appointed the New York Philharmonic’s assistant conductor, later becoming associate conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
 

Since his debut release on Mack Avenue Records in 2013, pianist and composer AARON DIEHL has mystified listeners with his layered artistry. His expression transforms the piano into an orchestral vessel in the spirit of beloved predecessors Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, and Jelly Roll Morton.

Born in Columbus, OH, Mr. Diehl flourished among family members supportive of his artistic inclinations. His grandfather, pianist and trombonist Arthur Baskerville, inspired him to pursue music. In 2003, he traveled to New York; following his success as a finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2002 Essentially Ellington competition and a subsequent European tour with Wynton Marsalis, he began studying with Kenny Barron, Eric Reed, and Oxana Yablonskaya, earning a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School.

Mr. Diehl has appeared at the Barbican, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Village Vanguard, and Ronnie Scott’s. Jazz festival appearances include performances at Detroit, Newport, Atlanta and Monterey, for which he received the 2014 festival commission. Orchestral performances include engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2021. He has also collaborated with some of the music’s most fascinating and enduring figures including Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Buster Williams, Branford Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, and Philip Glass. Recent highlights have included appearing in the New York premiere of Glass’s complete Etudes at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and collaborating with flamenco guitarist Dani De Morón in Flamenco Meets Jazz.