“Music is magical,” says Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang. “It has always attracted and fascinated me.”
So much so that he gave his debut recital at the Shanghai Concert Hall when he was only 5 years old. At age 19, Zhang became the youngest participant in the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and tied for the top prize.
“I have mixed thoughts about competitions,” said the young virtuoso who performs a solo recital at Boulder’s Macky Auditorium on Thursday and with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 19-21. “There is definitely a negative side to them. I don’t believe that music should be judged by universal standards because music is so personal.”
While Zhang acknowledges that competitions can catapult the careers of pianists and other musicians into the international spotlight, he also admits the tremendous pressure inherent therein.
“You can’t help but get nervous, and the implications of winning or losing are stressful,” he said. “You keep wondering if you’ll screw up, if the judges will like you, if the audience will like you.
“I learned that the key to winning is to forget about winning.”
Zhang has always felt close to music — especially tonal repertoire from the Baroque to late- Romantic eras — and describes it as his way to “navigate life.”
“When I was 4, my mother was learning English and reading the Reader’s Digest in which she discovered that piano playing could strengthen children’s brain development,” he said. “So she bought me a piano and I started playing as a hobby. Soon I realized that I could learn and memorize music really, really fast.”
“I love music more and more, the older I get,” Zhang said. “Just like when you get closer to a person, you uncover more and more layers about that person and you begin to rely on that person for your life.”
Zhang also has other interests, including Chinese and ancient history — not to mention playing pingpong and writing poetry.
“I think it’s right to say that music is all about life, but not that life is all about music,” Zhang said.
Zhang in Boulder: The University of Colorado Artist Series concert features, among others, Brahms’ “Klavierstücke,” Op.119; Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; and Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330 Macky Auditorium, CU-Boulder campus. 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. $12-$52. 303-492-8008 or .
And in Denver:Zhang joins the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor Scott O’Neil for a program of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 and 20 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 21 $15-$75. 303-623-7876 or .
