Romeo and Juliet + Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

This season marks Xian Zhang’s eighth season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, which celebrated its centennial last season. She also holds the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, having previously held the position of Music Director, 2009–2016.

In high demand as a guest conductor, Xian juggles an exceptionally busy diary of guest engagements alongside her titled commitments. During the 2023-24 Season, she conducts Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Anthony Minghella’s acclaimed production features a star-filled cast with Aleksandra Kurzak, Eleanora Buratto, and Asmik Grigorian sharing the role of Cio-Cio-San, and Matthew Polezani as Pinkerton.

Following a busy summer 2023 season, which saw her conducting Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, Xian’s symphonic highlights include returns to the Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Orchestra of St Luke’s, and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. She remains a popular guest of the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, NAC Ottawa, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Belgian National Orchestra, and the Norwegian Opera, where she returned last season for Puccini’s Tosca.

Letters for The Future (released in 2022), Xian’s recording on Deutsche Grammophon with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Time for Three, won multiple Grammy awards in both the Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’s Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories.

Xian previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming the orchestra’s Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.

Cellist Brinton Averil Smith continues to win rave reviews for virtuosic performances with musical ideals rooted in the golden age of string playing. His debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra won widespread international critical acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” and his recording of the chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham was chosen by numerous critics as one of the year’s best albums. A passionate advocate of compelling unfamiliar repertoire, Smith recently gave the North American premieres of rediscovered works of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky. Smith’s performances, hailed as “stunningly beautiful” by the American Record Guide, have been broadcast on CBS’s Sunday Morning and on the radio throughout the United States, including American Public Media’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast.

Smith has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Houston Symphony since joining the orchestra as Principal Cellist in 2005. Prior to this appointment, he was the first musician chosen by Lorin Maazel to join the New York Philharmonic and was Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth Symphonies. As a chamber musician, Smith has collaborated with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. Smith is also a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Aspen Music Festival.

The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics, music, and German. At age 17, Smith completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He then became a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, where he was also a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, and completed work for a Master of Arts in Mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the renowned cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts, disserting on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann. Smith resides in Houston with his wife, pianist Evelyn Chen, their daughter, Calista, and two slightly evil, but kind-hearted dogs. For further information, please visit www.brintonaverilsmith.com