James Olsen Performing Arts Center

Bio: Nathaniel Zhang (24 years old) is a second year Masters in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City where he studies with 2013 Van Cliburn Bronze medalist Sean Chen. Previously, Nathaniel completed a Bachelors in Music in Piano Performance and Bachelor in Science in Neuroscience at the Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester respectively where he studied piano with Dr. Marina Lomazov. Born in Houston, Texas, Nathaniel started piano when he was 6 years old and later studied piano with Mr. John Weems and Dr. Nancy Weems. He has won numerous awards and accolades in many competitions that include piano division winner of the 2025 UMKC Conservatory Chancellor’s Concerto Competition, 2nd place in the Chicago International Music Competition, 1st place in the Ronald Sachs International Music Competition, Finalist in Eastman School of Music Piano Concerto Competition, 1st place in the concerto division of the Texas Music Teachers’ Association Competition, 3rd place in the National Steinway Piano Competition, 1st place prize in the solo and concerto divisions of the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, 1st place prize in the solo and concerto divisions of the South Texas Piano Competition, the grand prize in the McKinney Young Artist Competition, the 1st place prize in the Clear Lake Symphony Piano Concerto Competition, the 3rd place prize in the Juanita Miller Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras, the 1st prize of 20th Symphony North Young Artists Piano Concerto Competition, the 1st prize winner of the International Music Competition “Salzburg” Grand Prized Virtuoso 2016, the 1st place winner (Intermedia Category) of the American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition 2016, Honorable Mention of 2016 Texas Music Teachers Association Piano Concerto Competition, the 1st place of 2015 International Keyboard Odyssiad Piano Festival/Competition, the 1st place of 2015 Austin Piano Festival/Competition, the 1st place of 2015 Texas State University Young Artists Piano Competition, the 1st place of 2015 Baylor University Young Artists Piano Competition, the winner of the Houston Young Artists Competition since 2013 until now, the 1st place of 2014/2015 High School All-Region Piano Competition, Honorable Mention of 2015 Texas Music Teachers Association Piano Competition, Honorable Mention of 2015 Music Teachers National Association Piano Competition, and Gold Medal recipients of Music Theory Test of Texas Music Teachers Association since 2006 to 2017. Nathaniel continually received the Music Doing Good Scholarship Top Award from 2013 until 2018 as well as honorary recognition from the Music Doing Good organization for his contributions to the Houston community. Currently, Nathaniel also works as a freelance collaborative pianist, accompanying mostly students in the UMKC area and acting as a substitute pianist for local church gigs. From September 2023 - December 2024, Nathaniel worked as the church pianist at the Centennial United Methodist Church. Prior to that, he worked as a graduate assistant at the Institute of Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music from September 2022 - May 2023. From June -July 2019, Nathaniel worked as student research assistant for Eastman School of Music’s Music Cognition Lab. Besides playing piano, Nathaniel also pursued a major in neuroscience. In his free time, he enjoys playing pickleball and Legos. In high school, he founded the Music of Harmony nonprofit organization dedicated to helping bring music to the greater Houston community. In founding this group, Nathaniel hoped to provide children the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, promote greater interaction between young musicians, and most importantly, spread the beauty of music to all of Houston. While leading Music of Harmony, Nathaniel has hosted over 120 performances, including nursing home performances, outreach performances in hospitals and banks, as well as a Christmas concert open to the public.