邹昊Hao Zou

Born in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China, in 1996, Hao Zou began studying piano and erhu at an early age. In 2009 he was admitted to the Middle School Affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition under Prof. Ding Ying. From 2015 to 2019 he attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music on a substantial scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in composition under Drs. Jesse Jones and Stephen Hartke. In 2019 he received a full scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in composition with Drs. Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Yotam Haber at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), where, in 2026, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in composition.

Zou’s honors include the 2021 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award; his works have also received awards at the UMKC Dr. Gerald Kemner Prize for Orchestral Composition, the 18th (2022) China–Chengdu Sun River Prize Students’ New Music Composition Competition (Sichuan Conservatory of Music), and A Review of the Chinese Piano Music Classics in the Past 100 Years — Collection and Selection of New Piano Works (Shanghai Conservatory of Music), among others. He took part in the 2022 RED NOTE New Music Festival (Illinois State University), where he was a finalist in its Composition Competition. He has collaborated with many ensembles and orchestras, including the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Duo Entre-Nous, Hub New Music, the Beijing Contemporary Soloists, the Peripherie Quartett, the Benmo Trio, the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra, the China National Traditional Orchestra, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). Many of his works have been published and distributed by the Shanghai Music Publishing House, the Shanghai Literature and Art Audio-Visual Electronic Publishing House, RMN Music, and Ablaze Records. In his compositions he weaves together diverse timbres to create complex sonorities, reimagining the poetics and charm of the traditional Chinese culture he has known since childhood.