Harmony Zhu

Young Steinway Artist, Harmony Zhu has been featured three times on NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show, CBC News, NPR’s From the Top, and CBS, among many others, for her exceptional gifts in piano, composition, and chess. She is a Lang Lang Young Scholar, and has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica de Medellín, Orlando Symphony Orchestra, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Big Spring Orchestra, Aspen Philharmonic, Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, and New York Youth Symphony, among others, with some of the most venerated conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Arie Vardi, John Giordano, George Stelluto, Roberto González-Monjas, Michael Repper, and Pablo Rus Broseta.

Performing regularly at prestigious festivals and venues worldwide, Harmony recently had the great privilege of making her debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. After her debut appearance as a soloist at the Ravinia Music Festival in the summer of 2018, she was invited back to Ravinia again in 2019 to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop. 2018 also marked her solo debut at the Aspen Music Festival’s Benedict Music Tent after winning the AMFS Concerto Competition. In the same year, Harmony toured with the Israel Philharmonic and appeared with the Detroit Symphony for three concerts. The year prior, she had the honor of opening The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 118th season at their Opening Night Gala Concert under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In May 2019, Harmony had the great privilege to be invited to perform at Lincoln Center’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Gala, sharing the stage with Joshua Bell, Harry Connick Jr., Brian Stokes Mitchell, Erin Morley, Jessie Mueller, Luke Frazier, Neil Patrick Harris, Chelsea Clinton, and Misty Copeland. She was also the only Pre-College piano student selected to perform at Juilliard Spring Gala and Juilliard Pre-College Centennial Gala.

In 2016, she was invited by the Peoria Symphony Orchestra to be the Resident Artist of the Week, where she was featured extensively on TV, radio programs, and newspapers, performed a televised recital for Sound Bites Concert “A Prodigy’s Journey”, and guested at WTVP’s “Consider This” – “What makes a Virtuoso” with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. Since she was first featured on the Emmy-award winning show From the Top, broadcast on NPR, at age 9, Harmony has been a frequent collaborator with the show, starring in two of their most popular music videos, one of which chosen as WQXR’s “19 of Our Favorite Internet Moments of 2018”. She was also named one of the “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” by CBC Music at age 8, the youngest ever. An avid chamber musician, Harmony has performed in a variety of ensembles including duets with renowned artists such as Emanuel Ax and Stéphane Denève, among others. Harmony has been a fellow of the Artemisia Akademie at Yale University since age 12 and has won numerous competitions from an early age. She started studying at Juilliard with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky at 8, becoming the youngest winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition in the same year. Harmony also loves playing violin, composing, and improvising, and studies composition with Dr. Ira Taxin at Juilliard.

As a chess prodigy, Harmony started playing in open tournaments with adults when she was 6 and has won numerous trophies and medals in international and national chess tournaments. She was awarded the title of Woman Candidate Master at the tender age of 7 and holds the title of World Champion of her age group after winning the World Youth Chess Championships. In addition to her endeavors in music and chess, Harmony is a voracious learner and excels in all academic areas, holding particular interests in history, mathematics, and languages, especially Latin. In her free time, Harmony enjoys reading, writing, drawing, photography, dancing, singing, ping pong, and swimming. She is also a Spelling Bee Champion and has received national awards in Spanish and photography. Harmony’s phenomenal talent led her to create a sensation when she was featured in The Simms/Mann Think Tank 2017, an annual convening of leading neuroscientists from around the world on cutting-edge science related to the brain development of children.

Harmony Zhu is a Young Steinway Artist