Biography

Eric Zheng is a musician and educator currently based in New York. As a saxophonist, he is passionate about breaking musical boundaries and collaborating across cultures and genres. He is especially interested in music as it relates to identity, finding his own voice through a combination of his western music education and Chinese music pursuits.

Eric made his solo debut with the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra at age 16 and has garnered numerous accolades since.  He was named a 2019 Yamaha Young Performing Artist and has won top prizes from the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, Northwestern University Concerto Competition, North Shore Music Club, North American Saxophone Alliance, and others. 

Regarding chamber music, he was the alto chair of Group 2, a stylistically diverse and musically engaging saxophone quartet committed to presenting an array of repertoire to their audiences. They have previously been the 1st prize winners of the 2020 New Orleans Chamber Festival Competition and finalists in the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Winds Competition and North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition.

Eric has performed both with Northwestern’s Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, acting as the saxophonist for the Midwest premiere of Judd Greenstein’s “My City” under Dr. Donald Nally. Eric has also had the privilege of performing with a variety of wind ensembles, having been under the batons of Dr. Kevin Sedatole, Dr. Mallory Thompson, and Dr. Shawn Vondran. 

For his undergraduate study, Eric attended Northwestern University where he studied Economics and Saxophone performance. He then completed a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance from Michigan State University. His primary teachers have included Taimur Sullivan, Joseph Lulloff, and Derek Granger. As a teacher himself, he has served on the music faculty of Albion College.

Now, under support from the Carnegie Foundation, Rockefeller Fund, and the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Eric has been named a China U.S. Scholar and will be studying at Bard’s U.S.-China Music Institute where he will be experimenting with the saxophone in Chinese music and learning native wind instruments under famed artist, Yazhi Guo. In this process, he seeks to foster a lasting and positive community centered around innovative musical experiences in advocacy of Asian-American representation.