Chinese soprano Mei Gui Zhang, whose “voice literally floated past the space she stood in and “lived in” and created remarkable, layered beauty” (OperaWire) is enjoying a burgeoning international career.

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In the 2025/26 season, Ms. Zhang returns to San Francisco Opera for the world premiere of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s The Monkey King in the role of Guanyin. In concert, she will sing a concert of French arias with Xu Zhong with the Paris Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Ah! perfido with Eun Sun Kim and the Minnesota Orchestra, and two projects with Xian Zhang, the first with Seattle Symphony with Qigang Chen in Iris Unveiled, and Mozart’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony. Finally, Mei Gui Zhang will sing Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the North Carolina Symphony.

 

In the 2024/25 season, Mei Gui Zhang debuted the role of Oscar in Un ballo in Maschera with San Francisco Opera, sang Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with the Atlanta Opera and Opera Carolina, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and in concert, CPE Bach’s Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Allentown Symphony.

 

Highly regarded for her interpretations of Mozart’s works, Mei Gui Zhang has appeared as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Guangzhou Opera House; Despina in Così fan tutte with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, and Ilia in Idomeneo (cover) with the Metropolitan Opera. At the Verbier Festival, where she was a Laureate of the 2019 Prix Yves Paternot, Ms. Zhang was seen as Pamina and Barbarina. She has also been a featured soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the North Carolina Symphony and Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with the New Jersey Symphony.

 

Mei Gui Zhang made her triumphant Carnegie Hall debut in 2023, joining the Philadelphia Orchestra in J.L. Adams’ Vespers of the Blessed Earth and later reprised the performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In the following season, Ms. Zhang debuted with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla for Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Fort Worth Opera as Musetta in La bohème, and the title role in Roméo et Juliette at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

 

Previous seasons sparkled with notable performances at esteemed venues, including her debut as Euridice in San Francisco Opera’s Orfeo ed Euridice opposite countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński; and her “energetic, bright-voiced Thibault” in Sir David McVicar’s Don Carlos under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Zhang has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Tianjin Grand Opera in The Rape of Lucretia (Lucia), and Harbin Symphony Orchestra in Fidelio (Marzelline).

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Ms. Zhang’s connection to her cultural roots is a hallmark of her career: she brings to life rarely performed works by Chinese composers, offering audiences a fresh perspective that intertwines her rich heritage with her operatic prowess. These works have brought her to prominent stages worldwide, including the world premiere performance of Aaron Zigman & Mark Campbell’s Émigré with the New York Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony, recorded with Deutsche Grammophon; and her debut as the lead role Dai Yu in Bright Sheng’s The Dream of the Red Chamber with San Francisco Opera.

 

As a concert soloist, Mei Gui Zhang has performed throughout China in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and concerts with both the Xi’an and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestras. She performed Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Bard College, Bruckner’s Te Deum with New Jersey Symphony, Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival, and solo recitals with pianist Ken Noda at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, Miami’s Wertheim Performing Arts Center and on tour in China in a program entitled “From West to East.”

 

As a member of the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Mei Gui Zhang made her debut as the Bloody Child in Macbeth, and at the Merola Opera Program, she performed Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress. Ms. Zhang represented China in the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She was a finalist in the 2019 Queen Sonja International Music Competition; took second place at the 2020 Opera Index Competition; and won the Audience Prize at the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup. Ms. Zhang earned her master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music, where she was a recipient of the George and Elizabeth Award, and completed her bachelor’s degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.