Chen, Lin - Conductor

Ms. Chen comes to CCM with an impressive resume that includes serving as the assistant to maestro Seiji Ozawa and conducting the Tokyo New Philharmonic, the China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Anhui Symphony Orchestra and the Hebei Symphony Orchestra. 
Ms. Chen was the recipient of the prestigious Tanglewood Conducting Fellowship in 2002 and a three-time finalist in France's Besançon Conducting Competition.  She has taught in the opera and conducting departments at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. Ms. Chen made her CCM conducting debut at the November 22 Chamber Orchestra concert with repertoire including Berlioz's Nuits d'étès, Rossini's Overture to The Barber of Seville, and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550.

Xian Zhang, 張弦 Conductor

Xian Zhang started her international conducting career by winning the First Prize in the Maazel/Vilar Conductors’ Competition in New York, 2002. She is currently engaged as cover conductor of the New York Philharmonic 2002-2004. Her recent conducting engagements include appearances with Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Orchestra Sinfonica "Arturo Toscanini" in Parma, Italy, and Sinfonietta Cracovia at the Krzysztof Penderecki Festival, Krakow, Poland.
Ms. Zhang currently serves as music director of Concert Orchestra at the College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati. In 1998, she came to the United States and attended CCM as a doctoral student, studying with Mark Gibson. During the summer of 2000, she was music director of the Lucca Festival Orchestra at the Opera Theater of Lucca in Italy. In 2001, she collaborated with Nicholas Muni on The Crucible at CCM.  In addition to her conducting and teaching schedule, Ms. Zhang takes private lessons with Lorin Maazel on a regular basis.
Born in Dandong, China, Xian Zhang started playing piano since four. She studied and later taught at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. She was conductor-in-residence at the China Opera House. At the age of twenty, She made her professional debut in China by conducting performances of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Central Opera House, Beijing.

MARK GIBSON, conductor

In his fourth year as Artistic Director of the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Mark Gibson maintains an active performing career on three continents while heading the Orchestral Studies program at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.
Formerly Principal Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Ash Lawn/Highland Summer Festival, Maestro Gibson has enjoyed an extensive career both in the opera house and concert hall.  Trained in the United States with Gustav Meier, Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein, Mr. Gibson pursued an opera career in Spain, serving as Associate Conductor of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and Music Director of the Opera de Maò, Menorca. Since returning to the States, he has led productions at important American opera companies including the New York City Opera, The Minnesota Opera, Opera Pacific, the Dallas Opera, Cleveland Opera and the Michigan Opera Theatre. He has appeared with many orchestras, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonia and at the summer festivals in Chautatuqua and Spoleto U.S.A. Internationally, he has led new productions of Turandot in Sagunto, Un Ballo in Maschera in Malaga and Mosé and Turandot in Seoul, while appearing with orchestras in Barcelona, Bochum and Munich.
With the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, he has led acclaimed productions of Handel’s Alcina, Verdi’s Falstaff and the Italian premiere of Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming.  He has recently appeared with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in China and led the world of premiere of David Cutler’s “Toy Fantasy,” a concerto for 2 harps and orchestra, with the Korean Chamber Ensemble in Seoul.
At the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Mr. Gibson serves as Music Director of the CCM Philharmonia, one of the preeminent conservatory orchestras in the world.  With the CCM Opera Theatre, he has conducted groundbreaking new productions of Dvorak’s Rusalka, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Kurt Weill’s The Royal Palace.Highly sought after as a teacher, he has been invited to give conducting master classes in Beijing, Munich, while his student Xian Zhang recently won the prestigious Maazel/Vilar Conductor’s Competition. Before coming to Cincinnati, Mr. Gibson was visiting Music Director of the Eastman Philharmonia.  His first book, a major revision of the classic conducting text, The Modern Conductor (7th edition), was recently published by Prentice-Hall.

Liu, Jiang - conductor

Dr. Jiang Liu, music director and conductor of the University of Dayton Symphony Orchestra, principal guest music director and conductor of Chengdu Symphony Orchestra and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra in China. Jiang Liu holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree in Orchestra Conducting, a Master’s degree in Conducting, a Master’s in Violin Performance, and a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance. Jiang Liu has conducted numerous orchestras across the Pacific Ocean including the Aspen Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Opera, the orchestras of University of Cincinnati, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, Miami University, Concordia University at Nebraska, SUNY-Binghamton, Baylor University, Bowling Green State University, University of San Diego, the China National Youth Symphony, Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Sichuan Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and Xiamen Philharmonic.
Jiang Liu has released a number of DVDs and CDs. His most recent DVD, performed with Chengdu Philharmonic, is described by Chengdu Daily News as representing “the best performance in the philharmonic’s history.”

Apo Ching-Hsin Hsu (许瀞心), conductor 

                                    
 “She generates electricity from the podium in two directions: into the orchestra and into the audience.” ---The Oregonian
Apo Ching-Hsin Hsu began her tenure as the Orchestra Director at the National Taiwan Normal University in the fall of 2003. In the summers since 2000, Ms. Hsu has served as a guest faculty member at The Conductor’s Institute at Bard College in New York.
Hsu has also served as the Music Director and Conductor of the Springfield Symphony in Missouri, as Artistic Director of The Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco, and as Music Director and Conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene, Oregon.
Hsu has performed as conductor or guest conductor in many places outside the States, including Sidney, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Taipei, Kaohsing, and Beijing. She has also recorded a CD with The Women’s Philharmonic, featuring the symphonic music of African American composer Florence Price. The CD has been released on the Koch International Classics label.