Mengru Zheng – 1st Prize with Special Mention, Conducting
Mengru Zheng is a versatile conductor who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with a focus on Piano Direction from the Central Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music. She will pursue her Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in Fall 2025.
Mengru is the only female conductor invited to the renowned Khachaturian International Conducting Competition 2025, which will take place in June in Armenia. This year, she is the cover conductor for Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas for the production of Chinese children’s opera, “The Big Swim.” The three-day concert was sold out, and the audience was very enthusiastic about the performance. She is also one of the four finalists in the 2024 Respighi Conducting Competition.
In addition to her conducting career, Mengru is dedicated to music education. From 2017 to 2020, she arranged art songs for children’s choirs and directed concerts in major public schools in Beijing. Mengru has studied with numerous internationally renowned conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Jorma Panula, Edward Gardner, Kenneth Kiesler, Brad Lubman, Leonid Grin, and Gerard Schwarz.