Tengyue (TY) Zhang

The highlight of TY Zhang’s international career was the Grand Prize of the 2017 Guitar Foundation of American International Concert Artist Competition (GFA-ICAC), known as the most prestigious guitar contest in the world. TY become the first Chinese to be honored with this prize. His win was followed by a tour with over 50 concerts in the U.S., including his Carnegie Hall debut. In 2018, TY released his solo album with Naxos company as the Laureate Series · Guitar Recital. It was praised as: “one of the most talented young players... I’m struck by the extraordinary levels of mastery, comfort and relative ease.” —Classical Guitar Magazine. Most recently, TY and violinist Strauss Shi have been awarded the Winner and Audience Prize at the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York as ArcoStrum, becoming the first-ever violin-guitar duo to win in its competition's 72-year history.

In addition to his GFA win, TY has received First Prizes awards around the world’s top competitions in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., including the Alexander Frauchi International Competition of Russia, the Changsha International Guitar Competition of China, the Schadt String Competition in the US, Austria’s Forum Gitarre Wien International Youth Competition, as well as the GFA Youth International Competition. 

As a performing artist, TY has given concert tours and masterclasses throughout the world, including Sydney, Australia; Belgrade, Serbia; Vienna, Austria; St. Petersburg, Moscow, Obninsk, Bryansk, Nizhniy-Novgorod, and Kaluga of Russia; Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kyoto of Japan; Beijing, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Macao, Changsha, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Kunming and Chongqing of China; and over 50 cities of the United States. He was featured on multiple international radios and Television shows, including Russia’s NIKA-TV and GUBERNIYA-TV and New York’s WQXR’s Greene Space & New York Guitar Festival’s Tribute to Julian Bream performance series.

As the appointed US International Director of the China Guitar Teacher Association (CGTA), TY was a member of the McCabe teaching fellowship in The Juilliard School, introducing the classical guitar to young audiences as artists and educators. TY has produced teaching lessons on platforms such as Tonebase Guitar, GFATV, and Guitar Era China. TY Zhang is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts teaching assistant at the University of Southern California, offering individual lessons and group classes, and ensemble coaching.

 TY Zhang showed his talent since young. He was called the “Little John Williams” at the age of eight by the two influential German guitar masters—The Amadeus Duo, at a masterclass in Beijing. Born in Hebei, a place south of Beijing in China, TY was introduced to a variety of things under the influence of his father, including swim, Chinese Kongfu, Erhu, violin, keyboard, and the classical guitar at the age of five and he liked to play the guitar the most. When he turned seven, TY was introduced to Professor Chen Zhi, whom he studied with at the Music School attached to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. It was a masterclass that bridged him with Professor Sharon Isbin, with whom he pursued Bachelor and Master of Music degree with at The Juilliard School in New York. TY is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree as a DMA Teaching Assistant under Professor William Kanengiser at the University of Southern California.

TY enjoys photography, videography, road cycling, surfing, and traveling.