Teenage pianist (Photo provided to China Daily)
All three finalists performed with the support of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and British conductor Mark Wigglesworth.
"When you meet Lauren, she seems – I wouldn't say shy – but controlled, within herself and very confident about her own personality," Wigglesworth told the BBC. "And then you hear her play and you discover this incredible depth and range of thought and imagination, and that's an extraordinary combination."
Zhang was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and began playing violin and piano at the age of four. She applied to the Birmingham Junior Conservatoire in 2010 while her mother was in the UK taking a year off work. The family decided to relocate permanently to Britain after Zhang formed a strong bond with Robert Markham, her tutor at the school.
