The 2024/25 season opens with Yajie Zhang’s debut as Flosshilde in Wagner’s Rheingold at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing. She will then reprise this role at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new production directed by Tobias Kratzer. Later in the season, she makes her debut as Aouda in Around the World in 80 Days at the Zurich Opera House. Furthermore, she will perform Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the baton of Eva Ollikainen and make her debut in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at Vienna’s Musikverein.
Recent highlights include her debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Nancy Tang in Nixon in China, as well as performances at the Bayerische Staatsoper in roles such as the Flower Maiden in Parsifal and Dryad in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. At the NCPA in Beijing, she has appeared as Nicklausse/Muse in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann under the baton of Pinchas Steinberg, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
A sought-after concert singer, Yajie Zhang performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the China Philharmonic Orchestra under Yu Long at the Beijing Music Festival and stepped in at short notice to perform Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. She has also appeared at the Shanghai Baroque Festival with the Shanghai Camerata under David Stern and made her debut in Munich´s Herkulessaal with Mahler´s Symphony No. 2.
An accomplished recitalist, she has performed alongside pianist Hartmut Höll at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Berlin’s Pierre-Boulez-Saal, and St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Hall. In the 2024/25 season, she will give recitals with Hartmut Höll in Montreal, Frankfurt, and Berg. Further engagements include performances with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and the festival:philharmonie westfalen.
From Anhui to Hanover: the musical journey of Yajie Zhang
Yajie Zhang is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 DEBUT Classical Singing Competition, the 2019 Das Lied competition in Heidelberg, the Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, and the International Opera Competition in Portofino. In 2017, she gained international recognition as the youngest participant in the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where she won the Grand Prix, the Opera Prize, and the Junior Jury Prize. She has been a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Foundation and the Lied Academy of Heidelberger Frühling.
Born in Anhui, Yajie Zhang began her vocal studies in Shanghai while being a member of the Zhou Xiao Yan Opera Center. In 2020, she completed her master’s degree and soloist diploma in Hannover under Marek Rzepka and Justus Zeyen. From 2022 to 2024, she was a member of the ensemble at Leipzig Opera, where she appeared as Angelina in La Cenerentola, Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
