Seattle Symphony's first female music director finds her joy in Emerald City

From the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Xian Zhang is one of the most road-tested people in Seattle, yet she was anything but road weary during an April 28 noontime interview that began post-rehearsal with capsule espressos in her Benaroya Hall office with a baby grand piano. A Grammy- and Emmy-winning conductor, Zhang has appointments in both Seattle and New Jersey. She lives on East Coast time and had already been awake and working for 13 hours, with afternoon auditions to come.

Zhang, who recently became the first female music director in the Seattle Symphony's history, talked about her journey from growing up in a small town in China that borders North Korea to bursting onto the world stage at 20, in 2002, winning first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition at Carnegie Hall.

Still, it would be years before the diminutive dynamo felt the joy she oozes today from the podium.

About Xian
Age: 53
Additional appointments: National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing guest conductor; Orchestra Sinfonia di Milano conductor emeritus
Hometown: Dandong, China
Residences: South Lake Union and Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Family: Husband and two teenage sons

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/bizwomen/news/profiles-strategies/2026/06/symphony-xian-zhang-music-director.html