Hanzhi Wang
In 2017, Hanzhi Wang became the very first accordionist to win First Prize at the YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. She has since debuted in New York in the Peter Marino Concert at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and her Washington, DC debut opened the 40th Anniversary Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts. Hanzhi holds the Ruth Laredo Prize and Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists of YCA. She has been named Musical America’s “New Artist of the Month” and been featured on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase. Hanzhi’s solo accordion CD, On the Path to H.C. Andersen, was Naxos’ first-ever solo accordion album and received critical acclaim including a nomination for the DR P2 Prize.
Hanzhi has performed at renowned venues and series, including UC Santa Barbara’s Lively Arts, the Candlelight Concert Society, La Jolla Music Society, the Morgan Library, and the Artist Series in Sarasota. She has appeared as a soloist with the Oregon Music Festival, Victoria Symphony, Cantori, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Iris Orchestra, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, and the Hawaii Symphony. Upcoming and recent highlights include her Tanglewood debut, and a coast-to-coast tour with Avi Avital that includes a performance presented by the New York Philharmonic.
Hanzhi is committed to nurturing future accordionists through lectures, masterclasses, and new works that have been written for her by composers such as Martin Lohse, James Black, and Sophia Gubaidulina. She will debut a piece by YCA alum Katie Balch at Wigmore Hall as well as a new accordion concerto written for her by current YCA composer-in-residence Nina Shekhar in January 2025.
Hanzhi earned her bachelor’s degree at the China Central Conservatory of Music and completed her master’s degree and soloist diploma at the Royal Danish Academy of Music under accordion professor Geir Draugsvoll.