Jin Zhang, a renowned piano educator, professor of the Central Conservatory of Music, director of the Piano Division of the Middle School attached to the Central Conservatory of Music, started piano lessons with his mother, Professor Wenju Sui. He also studied with Professor Gongyi Zhu and Professor Huili Li. In 1983 he was admitted to the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music where he studied under Professor Yiming Pan and Professor Jun Yang and graduated with honors in 1987. In 2004, Jin Zhang graduated with honors from the Graduate School of the Chinese National Academy of Arts.
His teaching career of over 20 years has seen many of his students growing to be excellent pianists. His remarkable teaching results have drawn attention both from home and abroad. His students have been accepted by world-famous academies of music such as the Juilliard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, the Liszt School of Music Weimar, Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. They have also been awarded scholarships of the highest level from these prestigious schools of music.
In the past ten years, many of his students have competed in competitions held in the USA, Japan, France, Poland, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Korea, Brazil, Greece, China Taipei and won numerous prizes.
These competitions include:
the 2nd Concerto Competition for Young Chinese Pianists
the 5th International Competition of Young Pianists
A STEP TOWARDS MASTERY held in St. Petersburg, Russia
the 8th International Vladimir Krainev Young Pianists Competition
the 1st Villa-Lobos International Piano Competition
the 6th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition
the 10th Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists
the 7th Horowitz International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Ukraine
the 11th UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa
the Paris Invitational Piano Competition for Young Pianists in 2007
the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2008
the Oberlin International Piano Competition
the 2008 Minnesota E-Piano International Competition
the 5th Franz Liszt International Piano Competition
the International Piano Competition in Royal Northern College of Music
the 8th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Poland
the 6th and 8th Tchaikovsky’s International Competition for Young Musicians
the 3rd CCTV Piano and Violin Competition
301 of Jin Zhang’s students have won awards in national and international competitions, of which 113 are gold medal winners. Of those prize winners, the playing of his outstanding students such as Bo Hu, Wenbin Jin, Jiayan Sun, Chun Wang, Nansong Huang, Wanting Zhao, Peng Lin , Yansong Bai, Siqi Yun, Kaiwen Zhao have received high praises from home and foreign pianists, bringing honors to our country on the competitive international stage.
While dedicated to piano teaching, Jin Zhang has also been invited to adjudicate international piano competitions, among which are:
the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2009
the 33th PTNA Piano Competition held in Japan
the International Piano Competition for Young Pianists held in Paris
the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition for Young Pianists held in Weimar
the 5th Chopin International Piano Competition held in China
CCTV Piano and Violin Competition in 2011 and 2014
the 13th Eastman Young Artist Piano Competition in July, 2012
He has also been invited to give both master and one-to-one classes in overseas academies and are greatly appraised by domestic and foreign pianists for his teaching art. The Academies where he gave classes include:
Canada’s Mount Royal College Conservatory
The LISZT School of Music Weimar
the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, Poland
the Ohio State University
the Florida State University
the Oregon State University, TCU’s School of Music
the 75th Tanglewood Music Festival in August, 2012
the Boston Tanglewood Young Artists International Piano Festival
He also planned and organized the 5th Chopin International Piano Competition held in China, the Xinghai National Piano Competition and the Cadenza National Piano Competition, where he also gave masters classes and arranged teacher-student recitals.
In addition to the above-mentioned activities, he has co-authored and assisted in the compiling of music books published by the Central Conservatory of Music intended for students taking grading auditions. He also recorded CDs and DVDs for the series of Classical Musicians. Another two DVDs, Prize Winners Playing WORLD Classics and Teaching World Classics published by the Beijing Education Committee is to be released at the end of 2014.
To honor the contribution he and his teaching team have made in the academic research field, the Beijing Municipal Committee of Education granted Professor Zhang Jin and his team the title of “Excellent Innovative Team”. Professor Jin Zhang’s signature attitude of diligence and unique working philosophy of teaching piano along with the manner in which he nurtures his students’ characters have been widely acclaimed by his school and society. In 2011 he won the title of Famous Teacher of Beijing’s Career Colleges. In 2008 and 2011, He won consecutively the title of Huang Yuanli Excellent Teacher d and was accordingly granted the faculty fellowship. 2005 on the 50th anniversary of the Central Conservatory of Music, Professor Jin Zhang was granted the prize of Special Contribution Award for Middle-Aged & Young Teachers & the 4th Xuelan Yang Prize of Music Education. In 2004, the National Ministry of Culture awarded him the prize of Yongxi Ou Excellent Art Teacher. In 2006, he won the Baogang Teaching Award. In the same year, he was awarded the Best Teacher at the 7th International Youth Piano Competition held in Ukraine in honor of Horowitz. Those of his personal achievements have also been widely reported by mediums such as China Daily (overseas edition), Music Weekly, Music Life, Little Performing Artist, Little Musician, China Today ( English & French edition), and was well received. His name has been included in Contemporary Chinese Artists and World Cultural Celebrities.