Jiusi Zhang, piano
A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and the Yale School of Music, pianist Jiusi Zhang, made his orchestral debut in 2022 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Bay; performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at Van Cliburn Concert Hall as winner of the PianoTexas Concerto Competition. He is First Prize winner at the 2025 Lancaster International Piano Festival Competition, and received the Silver Medal at the 2025 Rubato International Piano Competition. He is the 2026 recipient of the Elizabeth Parisot Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding pianist from the Yale School of Music.
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Opus 110, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Moderato cantabile molto Espressivo
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio, ma non troppo
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Opus 5, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante espressivo
III. Scherzo. Allegro energico — Trio
IV. Intermezzo. Andante molto
V. Finale. Allegro moderato ma rubato
A Downtown Music debut presented in partnership with Young Musicians of Westchester: Learn more at YoungMusiciansofWestchester.org
This Concert is made possible, in part, with a gift in memory of Sabin Streeter.
A late bloomer, Chinese pianist Jiusi Zhang has made remarkable progress as he prepares for a career in piano performance. Born in 2002, he began his musical journey at the age of four in his hometown Langfang, China. Throughout his teenage years, piano remained a personal passion rather than a professional pursuit. In 2020, at the age of eighteen, he finally began formal and intensive musical study at the Oberlin Conservatory and later at the Yale School of Music.
Jiusi made his orchestral debut in 2022 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Bay, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU as a winner of the PianoTexas Concerto Competition. He has received full scholarships to attend the PianoTexas International Piano Festival and is a three-time alumnus of the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival.
Recent accolades include First Prize at the 2025 Lancaster International Piano Festival Competition, Silver Medal at the 2025 Rubato International Piano Competition, Bronze Medal at the 2025 International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival Competition, First Prize (Marilyn Fischer & Joan Marie Scherer Scholarship) at the 2024 Tuesday Musical Association Scholarship Competition, where he also received the John M. Ream Jr. DDS People’s Choice Award at the winners’ concert, and Winner of the 2022 PianoTexas Concerto Competition.
Jiusi studied with Professor Dang Thai Son while at the Oberlin Conservatory and graduated in 2024 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Later that year, he began graduate studies at the Yale School of Music. In Spring 2026, he earned the Master of Music degree and was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize for Outstanding Pianist. Jiusi returns to Yale this Fall to pursue a Master of Musical Arts degree on full scholarship under the guidance of Professor Wei-Yi Yang.