Zhongling Fang
Assistant Conductor
Zhongling Fang is a young Chinese conductor based in Shenzhen, China, and currently serves as the Assistant Conductor of the renowned Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.
In 2024, Maestro Riccardo Muti selected Fang as one of the final four conducting candidates for the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy and described him as "a conductor of great talent and quality, with the potential for a big career." Fang was a prize-winner of the 2nd Wiener Schule International Conducting Competition in 2023. Later that year, he was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Besan on International Competition for Young Conductors.
Fang has worked and performed with several professional orchestras, including the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietta, Orchestre Victor Hugo, Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, United Europe Orchestra, Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Haydn Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohuslav Martin Philharmonic Orchestra, and the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.
In opera, Zhongling Fang has established himself through notable productions. In November 2024, under the mentorship of Maestro Riccardo Muti, he successfully conducted Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the China National Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and the Tianjin Conservatory of Music Youth Choir. Earlier, in September 2024, he collaborated with the Bulgarian State Opera Stara Zagora to perform Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. His earlier opera engagements include working with the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in 2016 and 2017.
In 2024, Fang completed his Master’s Degree in orchestral conducting at the Shenzhen Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Prof. Daye Lin. In 2021, he decided to further his studies in Germany, where he studied under Prof. Christian Ehwald and Prof. Georg Christoph Sandmann in Berlin and Dresden, respectively. In 2020, Fang graduated from the China Conservatory of Music with a degree in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of Prof. Ye Jin, with additional studies in opera conducting under Prof. Xincao Li. He also studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the guidance of Daniele Rosina.
Over the years, Fang has actively participated in masterclasses around the world, receiving guidance from eminent conductors such as Alexander Polishchuk, Martin Sieghart, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Ulrich Windfuhr, Guido Rumstadt, and Peter Stark, among others.
Besides conducting, Fang is also an accomplished pianist, winning major prizes in the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the Beijing Cadenza Piano Competition, and the Shenzhen Piano Duo Competition. In 2015 and 2016, he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Naples Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.
