Mei Gui Zhang

Ms. Zhang opens the 2024/25 season debuting the role of Oscar in “Un ballo in maschera” with San Francisco Opera, followed by appearances as Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” with both the Atlanta Opera and Opera Carolina. She then reprises her “warm, honeyed” Barbarina with the Metropolitan Opera in “Le nozze di Figaro”.
 
She 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 in “Die Zauberflöte” and Barbarina in “Le nozze di Figaro”.
 
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. Previous seasons included 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.
 
Ms. Zhang’s connection to her cultural roots is a hallmark of her career, bringing to life rarely performed works by Chinese composers. These works have brought Ms. Zhang to prominent stages worldwide, including her world premiere performance of Aaron Zigman & Mark Campbell’s “Émigré” with the New York Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony, a work she also recorded with Deutsche Grammophon; and her grand debut as the lead role Dai Yu in Bright Sheng’s “The Dream of the Red Chamber” with San Francisco Opera.
 
 
Photo credit: Photograph usage retained by artist