Niu Niu

Niu Niu is the stage name of Zhang Shengliang, who was born into a musical family in Xiamen. With signs of exceptional talent shown at the age of three, he made his recital debut at 6 years old. At the age of 8, he was the youngest student ever enrolled in the affiliated primary school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He was admitted to New York’s Juilliard School with full scholarship and has graduated in 2018.
Niu Niu was the youngest pianist ever signed to an international classical label and he has released ten albums. Fate & Hope and Lifetime, the two albums released by Decca Classics, includes his own composition “Hope” and “Miss”.
Career highlights include the 2007 Pearl Awards at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where he performed under his mentor Leslie Howard in the presence of the future King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales. In 2009, he was the youngest pianist to give a solo recital at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and NCPA in Beijing. In 2010, he was named the youngest laureate of the 2010 PRIX Montblanc in Berlin.
In August 2016, Niu Niu completed a tour in 16 cities within 25 days throughout China. So far, he had done hundreds of performances globally.
In 2018-19, he dubbed the piano performance of the character Wei Pang in NHK’s animated version of Piano no Mori (Forest of Piano), broadcasted by Netflix worldwide.
In April 2024, he released Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 6, and embarks on a world concert tour.