Guest Artist Biographies

HAN-NA CHANG

Artistic leader and chief conductor of the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera in Norway since 2017, and newly appointed Erste Gastdirigentin (principal guest conductor) of the Symphoniker Hamburg – Laeiszhalle Orchester commencing in the 2022.23 season, Han-Na Chang’s prestigious and unique international career spans nearly three decades. She first gained international recognition for her precocious musical gifts at the age of 11, when she won the First Prize and the Contemporary Music Prize at the Fifth Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris in 1994, awarded unanimously by the jury led by Mstislav Rostropovich. She made her formal conducting debut in 2007, at the age of 24, and has since then focused her artistic output exclusively to conducting.

Chang started her tenure as the artistic leader and chief conductor of the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera in 2017. Prior to this appointment, she served as the orchestra’s principal guest conductor from 2013 to 2017. She served as the music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2013.14 season, culminating in their successful and critically acclaimed performance at the 2014 BBC Proms in London. In 2009, she founded and launched the Absolute Classic Festival at Sungnam Arts Center in South Korea and served as its artistic director until 2014.

As a guest conductor, Chang’s upcoming appearances include the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam and Oslo philharmonic orchestras, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Singapore, Atlanta, Vancouver, Detroit, and Milwaukee symphony orchestras, among others. Her cello recordings, exclusively for the Warner Music label, have been nominated for Grammys, and have been awarded two ECHO Klassik awards, the Caecilia and Cannes Classical awards, as well as a Gramophone Concerto of the Year accolade among others, and remain world-wide bestsellers.

Chang was born in Suwon, South Korea, in December 1982. At the age of six, she received her first cello lesson. Her family moved to New York in 1993 in order to support her continuing studies at The Juilliard School, and she has lived in New York since. At the age of 10, she also started studying with Mischa Maisky, who remains her most important influence to this day, and she counts Mstislav Rostropovich and Giuseppe Sinopoli among the most influential mentors of her formative years. More information can be found at hannachangmusic.com.

Guest Artist Biographies

Zlatomir Fung

The first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2022 and a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and an exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire. A winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung has taken the top prizes at numerous competitions and was selected as a 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholar for the Arts. He was recently named to WQXR’s 2023 Artist Propulsion Lab.

Recent summer festival appearances include Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail with the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Slatkin, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, and Verbier. As a soloist, Fung has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic, Detroit, Kansas City, Seattle, and Asheville symphonies, among many others. Past recital highlights include his Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall debut. Upcoming engagements include a recital debut at Wigmore Hall, debuts with the Dallas, Milwaukee, and Rochester symphonies, and recital tours in the U.S. and Europe.

Of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Fung began playing cello at age three and earned fellowships at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, MusicAlp, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Fung studied at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Fung has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and has appeared on From the Top six times. In addition to music, he enjoys cinema, reading, and blitz chess.

Zlatomir Fung appears by arrangement with Kirshbaum Associates, Inc., 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 506, New York, NY 10001. kirchbaumassociates.com.