Jiahung Zou
2024 2nd Hiroshima Conductors Competition, 3rd Prize
2024/25 Season, Conductor's Assistant at Taiwan Philharmonic
2020 Talent Pool-Taipei Symphony Orchestra
2015, Jeju International Brass Competition, 2nd Prize (Quintet Div)
Born into a working-class family, Jiahung did not encounter music until middle school when he joined the school wind band and began playing the trumpet. This experience sparked a deep passion and interest in music. After graduating from Songshan Senior High School, he decided to pursue a career in music and was accepted into the Department of Music at Soochow University. He studied under the guidance of Professors Chun Chih Chen and Sugiki Kaoru, despite he has to work part-time to pay his tuition, he still earning a degree in trumpet performance with excellent grades and gradually becoming an active performer in Taiwan. In addition to performing as a soloist with various string orchestras and wind ensembles, he also achieved significant recognition in 2015 by winning the silver medal in the brass quintet category at the Jeju International Brass Competition in Korea. Jiahung has also served as a contract member of the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra and has participated in numerous performances with major orchestras in Taiwan, including the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Since 2016, he served as 2nd trumpet player with Taiwan Brass Quintet.
Jiahung shifted his focus to conducting after J eju Competition. He returned to Soochow University to pursue a Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting under the guidance of Associate Professor Ching-Po Chiang. In addition to his academic studies, he actively participated in conducting masterclasses to enhance his skills and perspectives, studying with renowned conductors such as Luigi Gaggero, Jorma Panula, Jahja Ling, Karel Mark Chichon, Gábor Hollerung, Tatsuya Shimono, and Yahui Wang. Among all the conductors, Luigi Gaggero, a conductor and renowned cimbalom soloist, had a particularly profound influence on him. Jiahung has collaborated with various orchestras, including the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Soler Camerata in Spain, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria in Spain, ProArte Orchestra of Hong Kong, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshima Wind Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Taiwan Camerata, and Taipei City Symphony Orchestra. Besides frequent performances and teaching activities, he has also ventured into conducting for video game score recordings. Beginning with the 2024/25 season, he will serve as Conductor's Assistant of the National Symphony Orchestra, which internationally known as Taiwan Philharmonic. 2024 he also distinguished himself among nearly a hundred applicants, became a 3rd prize winner in the Second Hiroshima International Conductors Competition organized by the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.