Zhang Zuo (Chinese: 左章; pinyin: Zuǒ Zhāng; born 10 October 1988), also known professionally as Zee Zee, is a Chinese-American pianist. She, who has won first prize awards at the 1st International Piano Competition in China, the Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in the United States, the Krainev International Piano Competition in Ukraine, and the Juilliard School's 32nd annual William Petschek Piano Recital Award.

Early life

Zee Zee started her musical training at the age of five in Berlin. She enrolled later at the Shenzhen Arts School at the age of seven, and began studying with Dan Zhaoyi, a Chinese piano educator and professor. At the age of eight, she began winning competitions and gave her first concerto performance. It was then she performed the Haydn's Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. At the age of ten, she gave her first solo concert in Shenzhen and became a representative of the Chinese piano community.

After completing her piano studies with Dan at the Shenzhen Arts School, Zuo was invited to continue her artistic development in 2006 in the United States, where she attended the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music under the mentorship of Nelita True for her bachelor's degree. Later, she completed her master's degree at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Robert McDonald and Yoheved Kaplinsky.

Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( GREEG, Norwegian: [ˈɛdvaʁd ˈhɑ̀ːɡəʁʉp ˈɡʁɪgː]; 15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia.

Grieg is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues that depict his image and many cultural entities named after him: the city's largest concert building (Grieg Hall), its most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor). The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg's former home, Troldhaugen, is dedicated to his legacy.

Background

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway. His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806–1875), a merchant and the British Vice-Consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup (1814–1875), a music teacher and daughter of solicitor and politician Edvard Hagerup. The family name, originally spelled Greig, is associated with the Scottish Clann Ghriogair (Clan Gregor). After the Battle of Culloden in Scotland in 1746, Grieg's great-grandfather, Alexander Greig (1739–1803), travelled widely before settling in Norway about 1770 and establishing business interests in Bergen. Grieg's paternal great-great-grandparents, John (1702–1774) and Anne (1704–1784), are buried in the abandoned churchyard of the ruined Church of St Ethernan in Rathen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.