Zhanbo Zheng, viola

Known for his "beautiful tone and control, tremendous energy and thoughtful  musicality" (Violinist), violist Zhanbo Zheng was the first Chinese to win the  Primrose International Viola Competition. He has also taken top prizes in other  major competitions including the Irving M. Klein International String Competition  and the Washington International Competition for Strings. He was also a recipient  of the Emerging Artist Award from the Saint Botolph Club Foundation. 

An avid chamber musician, Zheng has collaborated with distinguished artists, such  as Jonathan Biss, Anthony McGill, Pamela Frank, Gary Hoffman, and others. He  has been invited to perform at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society as a guest  artist, and his music festival appearances include Marlboro Music Festival,  Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Verbier Festival Academy,  Caramoor Evnin Rising Stars, and Cleveland ChamberFest. Zheng has performed  in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,  Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and Kaufman Music Center.  

As a soloist, Zheng has performed with orchestras such as the Santa Barbara  Chamber Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, San Jose Chamber  Orchestra, China Broadcasting Performing Arts Orchestra, and EOS Repertoire  Orchestra of CCOM. In 2014, sent by the Ministry of Culture, he was selected for  an exchange activity between China and Germany, hosted by China Education  Association for International Exchange. He has also participated in the recording  project “My Concert Hall — The Classical Music Appreciation,” which was  proposed by Li Lanqing, the former Premier of the State Council of China.  

Zheng earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the New England  Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian, Miriam Fried, and  Dominique Eade. He was a recipient of NEC’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship  and graduated with top Academic Honors. He also holds an Artist Diploma from  the Juilliard School, where he was mentored by Paul Neubauer. In 2024, Zheng  joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Viola.