About Zihan Wu

Zihan Wu (b.2001) is a Chinese composer/pianist. Her music is often praised for the sophisticated and imaginative crafts of soundscapes. She is interested in exploring the interrelationships between different colors, objects, time, and space, and weaving them into a unique and personal sonic world. The poetic, dramatic, and organic flows of energy that naturally connected the composition itself to the performers and the listeners are essential to her works.

 

Zihan has collaborated with renowned ensembles, including Meitar Ensemble, Divertimento Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Fabrik Quartet, Ensemble Court-Circuit, members of New York and Lviv Philharmonia, Impronta Ensemble, Metiss Quartet, Yale Philharmonia, Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Ossia New Music Ensemble, and among others with performances internationally. Her works have been featured in the Rondò Season in Milan, CEME Festival Tel Aviv, and ECLAT Festival Stuttgart.

​

She has been selected as a composition fellow at major festivals, including the Grafenegg "Ink Still Wet" Composer-Conductor Workshop (2025), DeGaetano Composition Institute by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2025), Aspen International Music Festival (2024), Barcelona Modern International Composition Workshop (2024), CEME International Music Festival (2023), International Workshop for Young Composers (2023), Bowdoin International Music Festival (2022), New Music On the Point (2022), and Beijing International Composition Workshop (2019).

​

Her works have won several prizes including 1st prize in the 10th Matan Givol International Composers Competition; winner of 1st Call for Scores - Biennale “Annamaria Strano”; 1st prize in the MaestrosVision Award International Composition Competition; 1st prize in the 9th Beijing International Composition Workshop; 3rd prize in the Impronta Ensemble Composition Competition and "Yinzhong" Cup Composition Competition. She has also been honored with the Eastman Student Composition Award, Eastman Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize, Eastman Luis Lane Prize, and Excellence Award in the  "Wanye" Cup Composition Competition for Chinese Contemporary Piano Works.

​

Currently based in New Haven, CT, Zihan is pursuing her Master of Music in composition at the Yale School of Music, studying with Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, Katherine Balch, and Christopher Theofanidis. She earned her BM degree at the Eastman School of Music with high distinction in composition and piano performance after graduating from the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She has also studied with Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Robert Morris, David Liptak, Matthew Barber, and Qing Shao, and received guidance from composers such as Hèctor Parra, Daniel D’adamo, Philippe Leroux, Sarah Nemstov, Mauro Lanza, Derek Bermel, Andreia Pinto Correia, Augusta Read Thomas, among others.

​

Her piano mentors include Melvin Chen, Douglas Humpherys, Vincent Lenti, and Xiangjun Yu. As a pianist, Zihan has received masterclasses from Robert McDonald, Logan Skelton, Julian Martin, and among others. Her repertoire ranges from Baroque to Contemporary, from solo to ensemble. She is a member of the U.S. National Music Honor Society Pi Kappa Lambda.

​

​