A New York Times article explores and explains the conductors job, how “he or she makes music’s meaning clear through body motion.”
We are happy that Xian Zhang is included as one of seven conductors interviewed in the article, and featured with a photograph as well. The article is fascinating, but I do wonder if a bit of gender bias played out in that Zhang’s professional role is not pointed out—we don’t learn about where she works or her title. The conductors were all interviewed “as they passed through New York in recent seasons” and in Zhang’s case it was only mentioned that she was working with a student orchestra at Julliard. Harry Bicket also does not have any position clarified, but at least he has some description, as an early-music specialist and British.
But this only really matters in the paper version (which I read first)—online the conductors get links to their websites. Zhang has been discussed earlier on this blog; for the record, she serves as Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi and Artistic Director of the NJO / Dutch Orchestra.