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The Chinese soprano, Mei Gui Zhang (AKA: Meigui Zhang; Chinese: 张玫瑰;), was born into a musical family. She studied to play the piano and violin from child age and studied vocal music under guidance of her parents. At three years old, she performed with Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, taking on the role of leading soloist. In 2012, she was admitted to the Vocal Music Department of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, ranking first in her major. The following year, she transferred to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and completed her Bachelor of Music degree, under the tutelage of Zhou Xiaoyan. From 2016 to 2018, she received a scholarship and completed her Master of Music degree from Mannes School of Music, where she was a pupil of Diana Soviero , and a recipient of the George and Elizabeth Award. She performed roles in such operas as Despina in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Gilda in Rogoletto.
Mei Gui Zhang was chosen to the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera where she sang the Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress as Anne Trulove in 2018. After graduation, she became the member of Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She made her Metropolitan opera debut as Bloody Child in Macbeth and Barbarina in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists concert series in Lincoln Center during 2018-2020, singing the scenes and arias from Georges Bizet's Carmen, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Massenet's Werther, and Strauss's Arabella among other works. She represented China in the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She was a finalist in the 2019 Queen Sonja International Music Competition; took 2nd place at the 2020 Opera Index Competition; and won the Audience Prize at the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup.
Highly regarded for her interpretations of W.A. Mozart's works, Mei Gui Zhang has appeared as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Guangzhou Opera House; Despina in Così fan tutte with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood; and Ilia in Idomeneo (cover) with the Metropolitan Opera. At the Verbier Festival, where she was a Laureate of the 2019 Prix Yves Paternot, she was seen as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. She has also been a featured soloist in W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the North Carolina Symphony and Exsultate, jubilate with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
In the next few years, Mei Gui Zhang performed at major opera theaters across USA, especially in San Francisco. The 2021-2022 & 2022-2023 seasons sparkled with notable performances at esteemed venues, including her debut as Euridice in San Francisco Opera’s Orfeo ed Euridice opposite counter-tenor Jakub Józef Orliński (November-December 2022); and her “energetic, bright-voiced Thibault'' in Sir David McVicar’s Don Carlos under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in her return to the Met (February-March 2022). She reprised as Barbarina in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro on the Met stage. She also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (February 2020), Tianjin Grand Opera in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (Lucia), and Harbin Symphony Orchestra in L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio (Marzelline).
Mei Gui Zhang made her triumphant Carnegie Hall debut in 2023, joining the Philadelphia Orchestra in J.L. Adams’ Vespers of the Blessed Earth and later reprised the performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In the following season, she debuted with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Gabriel Fauré's La Bonne Chanson, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla for Canteloube’s Chants d'Auvergne, Fort Worth Opera as Musetta in La bohème, and starred as the title role in Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Mei Gui Zhang’s connection to her cultural roots is a hallmark of her career: she brings to life rarely performed works by Chinese composers, offering audiences a fresh perspective that intertwines her rich heritage with her operatic prowess. These works have brought her to prominent stages worldwide, including her world premiere performance of Aaron Zigman & Mark Campbell’s Émigré with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony, a work she also recorded with Deutsche Grammophon; and her grand debut as the lead role Dai Yu in Bright Sheng’s The Dream of the Red Chamber with San Francisco Opera.
As a soloist, Mei Gui Zhang performed throughout China in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and various concerts with both the Xi’an and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestras. She performed L.v. Beethoven's Missa solemnis with Bard College’s The Orchestra Now, Bruckner’s Te Deum with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, J.S. Bach's Coffee Cantata BWV 211 with Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival, and solo recitals with pianist Ken Noda at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium and Miami’s Wertheim Performing Arts Center.
Mei Gui Zhang opened the 2024-2025 season debuting the role of Oscar in Un ballo in maschera with San Francisco Opera (September 2024), followed by an appearance as Pamina in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Atlanta Opera (November 2024). She then reprises her “warm, honeyed” Barbarina with the Metropolitan Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (March 2025). |
