Known for his "beautiful tone and control, tremendous energy and

thoughtful musicality" (Violinist), violist Zhanbo Zheng was the first

Chinese to win the Primrose International Viola Competition. He has

also taken top prizes in other major competitions including the Irving

M. Klein International String Competition and the Washington

International Competition for Strings. He was also a recipient of the

Emerging Artist Award from the Saint Botolph Club Foundation.

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An avid chamber musician, Zheng has collaborated with distinguished

artists, such as Jonathan Biss, Anthony McGill, Pamela Frank, Gary

Hoffman, and others. He has been invited to perform at the Philadelphia

Chamber Music Society as a guest artist, and his music festival

appearances include Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Ravinia

Steans Music Institute, Verbier Festival Academy, Caramoor Evnin

Rising Stars, and Cleveland ChamberFest. Zheng has performed in

leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the

Performing Arts, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and Kaufman

Music Center.  

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As a soloist, Zheng has performed with orchestras such as the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, China Broadcasting Performing Arts Orchestra, and EOS Repertoire Orchestra of CCOM. In 2014, sent by the Ministry of Culture, he was selected for an exchange activity between China and Germany, hosted by China Education Association for International Exchange. He has also participated in the recording project “My Concert Hall — The Classical Music Appreciation,” which was proposed by Li Lanqing, the former Premier of the State Council of China.

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Zheng earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian, Miriam Fried, and Dominique Eade. He was a recipient of NEC’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship and graduated with top Academic Honors. He also holds an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, where he was mentored by Paul Neubauer. In 2024, Zheng joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Viola.