Hanzhi Wang

Praised for her captivating stage presence and performances that are technically and musically masterful, the groundbreaking young musician Hanzhi Wang is the only accordionist to ever win a place on the roster of Young Concert Artists in its 59-year history. She is proving herself to be the perfect ambassador for her instrument.

Other firsts include being named Musical America “New Artist of the Month,” an interview and performance on the 2,145th episode of New York WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase as the first solo accordionist on the program, and the Naxos label’s first-ever solo accordion CD, Ms. Wang’s "On the Path to H.C. Andersen,” which was nominated for the prestigious DR (Danish Radio) P2 Prize in 2019.

First Prize Winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Ms. Wang’s debut opened the 2018-19 YCA Series in New York in The Peter Marino Concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and her Washington, DC debut opened the 40th Anniversary Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts. This season, the Young Concert Artists Series will present her in New York with YCA’s Omer Quartet, in the Summis Auspiciis Concert at The Morgan Library and Museum.

Ms. Wang was awarded YCA prizes for performances for Candlelight Concert Society in Columbia, MD; Sinfonia Gulf Coast in Destin, FL; Tri-I Noon Recitals at Rockefeller University in New York City; Vancouver Recital Society; Tannery Pond Concerts (NY), Usedom (Germany) Festival; Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (NC); University of Florida Performing Arts Prize; and Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana. In addition, Alan & Judy Kosloff and Mike Lubin & Anne-Marie McDermott sponsorship her YCA Fellowship, and she holds the Ruth Laredo Prize and Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists of YCA.

Additional invitations to perform have come from the Oregon Music Festival for a performance as soloist with orchestra, IRIS Orchestra in Tennessee, Palm Beach Symphony, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (AL), Leaf Peeper Concerts (MA),

Grand County (CO) Concert Series, the Bravo! Vail and Ibagué (Colombia) Music Festivals, and YCA alumnus Alexander Fiterstein’s Clarinet Academy in Minneapolis.

Ms. Wang won First Prize in the 40th Castelfidardo International Accordion Competition in Italy. She inspires the next generation of accordionists with lectures, performances and master classes, at the Manhattan School of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music, Tianjin Music Conservatory, Ghent Music Conservatory (Belgium), and in Norway and Portugal. Composers Martin Lohse, James Black and Sophia Gubaidulina have written and dedicated works to her.

Ms. Wang earned her Bachelor’s degree at the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She

completed her Master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with the renowned accordion professor Geir Draugsvoll, and now serves as an assistant teacher at the Academy.