About Vincent Zhang

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Praised as “a formidable talent” (Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet), Chinese-Canadian composer Vincent Zhang writes music shaped by the inner landscapes of human psychology and the natural world. Moving between theatrical intensity and subtle introspective dialogue, his work creates heightened perceptual experiences through prismatic sonorities and intricate repetitions.

Currently based in New York, Vincent won both the Juilliard Orchestra Competition and the Juilliard AXIOM Competition as an 18-year-old first-year student, becoming the youngest Canadian composer to win both competitions. His orchestral work Shaman on the Moon was premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2025. The following year, his Juilliard-commissioned work for soprano and chamber orchestra, The Iron Mass, was premiered by AXIOM at Alice Tully Hall as part of Juilliard’s 2025–26 The New Series. That same season, Vincent was commissioned by the Juilliard Music Division to compose a new song cycle for Pride Songbook Vol. 3, also presented as part of The New Series.

This year, Vincent received the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award and was selected as one of three composers for the SOCAN Canadian New Music Workshop 2026–27, where his new chamber-orchestra work, FLUX, will be rehearsed and professionally recorded by the Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble under the direction of Brian Current.

Raised in Vancouver, Vincent sees his work as part of a new generation of innovative Canadian music on the global stage. His music explores modern vitality and the untapped potential of the human spirit, drawing from his upbringing, his Chinese-Canadian identity, and his enduring connection to the vast landscapes of Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains.

Beyond the concert hall, Vincent is deeply committed to interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2024, he was selected as the principal sound artist for James Turrell’s installation exhibition at the CICA Center for International Contemporary Art Vancouver. His work also extends into dance through collaborations with choreographers and dancers, who have set his 30-minute symphonic ballet and several of his chamber works to movement.

Vincent has received commissions/performences from the Juilliard Orchestra, AXIOM New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, loadbang, Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble, Tacet(i) Ensemble, Amsterdam Brass Quintet, The Rhythm Method, West Coast Symphony Orchestra, Brightwork New Music Ensemble, University of Saskatchewan Wind Orchestra, and numerous chamber groups, choirs, and soloists across Canada and the United States.

His compositions have been performed at esteemed festivals, including the Bowdoin Music Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, Mostly Modern Festival, INTACT Festival (Thailand), Impulse New Music Festival, Divergent Studio, DMICS - Del Mar International Composer Symposium, and the Zodiac Academy and Festival (France).

Vincent is currently a third-year undergraduate composition student at The Juilliard School, studying under the mentorship of David Serkin Ludwig and Amy Beth Kirsten.