Hailed in the New York Concert Review as “a superb cellist with intense and sensuous sound,” and described by the Los Angeles Times as “being able to handle the most intricate musical works with unblinking ease and expressive zeal,” cellist Yao Zhao performs with a rare and captivating dynamism that has already secured him a successful career as an artist.
The Cello Principal of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Zhao was the Associate Principal Cello of the Symphony from 2005 to 2007. Away from Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego, Mr. Zhao has performed in more than 40 cities around the world. Some of his festival appearances include the Grand Teton Festival, the Ojai Music Festival, the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, the Mainly Mozart Music Festival, the Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival, the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea and Japan and the Chinese Festival Orchestra which gathers top Chinese artists worldwide among others. He has been in broadcast interviews by CNN, CBS, KTLA, GreekTV, Phoenix TV, CNR and CCTV; and as both a solo and ensemble artist on multiple recordings, his performances could often be heard on radio K-MOZART, K-PBS, XLNC-1, CNR.CN and K-USC.
Mr. Zhao made his first concert appearance at the age of five, and he made his solo debut in the Beijing Concert Hall at age nine. He rose to attention in 1987 when he was a top prize winner at the First Chinese National Cello Competition. Mr. Zhao subsequently kept a winning streak of more than 13 competitions, awards and honors. He has performed as soloist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras of the southland. A successful solo debut at the Weil Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York City has been marked as one of his career highlights.
Yao Zhao’s chamber music career is equally distinguished as he makes regular performance appearances with internationally renowned artists. In 2009, as a member of the Great Wall String Quartet which concluded their debut season to great acclaim, they proudly represented the Great Wall of China in a documentary film as one of the six historical sites in Beijing for the United Nations. The quartet released their debut album “Great Wall” in September of 2012, and will release their second album at the beginning of 2013.
Beyond a busy performance schedule, Mr. Zhao continues to dedicate himself to the education of the next generation in the arts by teaching master-classes in Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Jakarta and Singapore. To this end, he also serves on faculty at Idyllwild Arts Academy, San Diego State University, the Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival, Shanxi International Strings Seminar and the Great Wall International Music Academy. He has been named Honorary Advisor of the Macau Youth Symphony Orchestra, and his achievements and generous contributions to music performance and education have been recognized and highly commended by the City of Los Angeles and well as the Governments of Macau and Hong Kong.
Born in Beijing in 1976, Mr. Zhao began his studies on the cello and piano at the age of four under the instruction of his father, a distinguished cellist. He was educated at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and later in the United States at the Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where he studied with renowned pedagogue Professor Eleonore Schoenfeld.
Mr. Zhao is an artist of the Asia Pacific Arts Management Ltd.