Zhang Yadi is a young Chinese pipa player who teaches pipa at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and the director of the China Musicians Association Pipa Society. In 2023, she was accepted into a doctorate program at the Central Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of acclaimed pipa performer and educator Zhang Qiang.
Zhang Yadi began learning pipa at the age of 7 under instructor Zhou Xianshun, and after 2004 studied under pipa performers and educators Li Guanghua and Zhang Qiang. She began teaching at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 2017. Zhang participated in the Central Conservatory of Music's first ‘BOB Top Innovative Talent Program’, China National Arts Fund ‘Talent Development Program for Performance and Theory of the Wang Style of Pipa’, and Tianjin City’s ‘Young Talent Development Program’.
Zhang’s performances have received outstanding scores at major competitions in China and around the world. This includes winning first place at the 19th Taipei Chinese Instrumental Competition, first place in pipa performance at the 1st CCTV Traditional Instrument Contest, the gold award at the 1st China - Japan - Korea International Pipa Competition, and gold award in the chamber music category of the 3rd Beijing International Folk Music Competition. In recent years, Zhang has received multiple invitations to serve as a judge in pipa competitions held in China, and many of her pupils have achieved excellent scores in various pipa contests.
Zhang has traveled around the globe to perform solos and as part of chamber music ensembles, and has given many successful solo concerts and lectures both at home and abroad. Her performance included the premieres of Late Autumn, Sarafan Dance, Serenade of Clouds and Water, and A Single Spark Sets the Prairie Ablaze, which were widely praised.
