Xian Zhang has been appointed as the music director of the Seattle Symphony, making her the first female conductor to lead a major orchestra on the West Coast. This appointment fills the position that has been vacant since Thomas Dausgaard stepped down unexpectedly in January 2022.

Zhang accepted a five-year contract commencing in 2025-26, the orchestra announced Thursday. She will assume the role of music director designate this season.

She made her debut with the orchestra in June 2008 at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, conducting Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky." She has since returned multiple times, including for performances of Orff's "Carmina Burana" in 2023 and Copland's "Appalachian Spring" in April of this year.

“With each visit, I realized the depth and the understanding of the music from the musicians,” she shared. “It felt as if we were truly on the same musical page, speaking the same language.”

Zhang has served as the music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2016-17. She also received a Grammy Award in 2023 for a recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the string trio Time for Three, featuring works by Jennifer Higdon and Kevin Puts.

Seattle Symphony President Krishna Thiagarajan expressed his admiration for “the energy and the connection between her and the orchestra that was evident to the audience.”

“She brings a fresh perspective to everything she conducts while remaining true to traditional interpretations of what we consider core repertoire,” he remarked. “She has a deep appreciation for contemporary American composers, particularly those with ethnic backgrounds or immigrant heritage. She has consistently championed the causes of women in music throughout her career.”

Following lengthy tenures by Gerard Schwarz (1985-2011) and Ludovic Morlot (2011-19), Dausgaard was appointed in October 2017 for a four-year contract starting in 2019-20. After Dausgaard resigned with 1 1/2 seasons remaining in his contract, he told Danish National Radio’s P2 ,“I have felt threatened and I haven’t felt safe with going to work” and told The New York Times “I felt my life is too precious to be in such tension.” Orchestra officials denied any wrongdoing.

Jon Rosen, the lawyer who has led the orchestra’s board since August 2021, said Dausgaard’s difficult departure “certainly was a factor, even if it was not explicitly stated” in the search for a new conductor.

“Our goal was to find someone who would be friendly, connect with the musicians, and be receptive to their input,” he explained. “I was eager to learn from the experiences with Thomas.”

Born in China, Zhang began playing piano at 3, attended Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music and was invited by a teacher to conduct Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at 19 with the China National Opera Orchestra.

She attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, won the Maazel/Vilar International Conductors’ Competition in 2002 and was hired as the New York Philharmonic’s assistant conductor and later associate conductor. Zhang became music director of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra from 2005-07 and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi from 2009-16.

Seattle had 176 scheduled performances and 6,583 subscribers last season when it sold 69.65% of tickets, exceeding its 58.94% in the 2018-19 season before the pandemic. Revenue last season is estimated at $31.6 million, including $11.9 million from ticket sales.

Zhang is committed to up to 14 weeks annually with Seattle and eight with New Jersey, where she resides. Her 2024-25 season includes engagements with the Metropolitan Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Zhang returns to the Seattle Symphony for programs in March and June.

She was in Brazil in June to conduct the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra when Alexander Monsey, her agent at IMG Artists, called to inform her that the Seattle Symphony had offered her the position.

“I was somewhat surprised,” she said. “I was completely unprepared to receive such good news.”