From Für Elise to the Podium: The Musical Journey of Mengru Zheng
- WOMCO
- May 14
- 3 min read
Mengru Zheng was a Platinum Prize Winner in the Conducting Category, at the 2025 Season 2 Georges Bizet International Music Competition
Biography
Mengru Zheng is a versatile conductor based in the United States. 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 the First Prize winner with Special Mention in Classical Music Stars Competition and Platinum Prize in Best Classical Musicians Awards 2025.
Mengru has collaborated with orchestras such as the Pärnu Music Festival Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastern Festival Orchestra, Eastern Festival Youth Orchestra, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, University of Michigan Philharmonic Orchestra, and Campus Symphony Orchestra.
Mengru has studied with many internationally renowned conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Jorma Panula, Leonid Grin, Edward Gardner, Gerard Schwarz, Kenneth Kiesler, and Brad Lubman. Mengru's performance at the Eastern Music Festival gained high praise from CVNC and Gerald Schwartz, her teacher at EMF, for her exceptional musicality. Kenneth Kiesler, her mentor, praised her innate quality as a conductor.
Mengru 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 with a minor in Voice. She will pursue a Doctor of Music Arts in Orchestral Conducting at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Fall 2025. In addition to conducting, 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.
Can you introduce yourself and share how you got into music?
My name is Mengru Zheng, and I will begin my doctoral studies in Orchestral Conducting at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the fall of 2025. I earned my first Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music and my second Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music.
My journey with music began at the age of two and a half, when my mother discovered me playing the tune of Beethoven's "Für Elise" on the keyboard without anyone’s instruction. Recognizing my natural affinity for music, she arranged for me to study with a piano teacher. I first encountered the role of a conductor in my third year of elementary school, when I was appointed to conduct the choir for the school's anniversary ceremony. I was captivated by the art of making music with people, and from that moment on, I aspired to become a conductor.
What do you believe defines a great Conductor, and how do you incorporate your unique style into your music?
A great conductor is as vulnerable as an actor and as creative as a designer. Moreover, conductors must faithfully interpret the music score and help the orchestra reach its fullest potential. Finally, being a great human with a beautiful soul is a prerequisite for an artist and a conductor.
