Ophelia Zhao is currently a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She studies the Baroque Flute with prestigious professor Lisa Beznosiuk. She grew up in a musical family, she was surrounded by music at an early age and started to learn the piano with her mother when she was four years old. She began studying the modern flute with Dr. Guoliang Han at age 10 at the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School in Beijing. In China, she completed a modern flute bachelor degree at the Central Conservatory of Music. One day, she saw a life-changing TV show, broadcasting extraordinary Baroque Orchestra concert, played by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the incredible flutist Lisa Beznosiuk. This BBC documentary turned her on to the world of Baroque Music and period flute ever since. As a freelance flautist, Ophelia appears frequently at international competitions. In 2007, Ophelia was awarded 5th prize at the junior group of the 1st Maxence Larrieu International Flute Competition in Nice, France. In 2008, she won the 2nd prize at the National Flute Association High School Soloist Competition in the United Stated. The next year, she won the 3rd prize and was also awarded the Best Performance of the Commissioned Piece at the same competition. She has played in masterclasses with many famous modern flute players and professors, such as Emmanuel Pahud, William Bennett and Peter-Lucas Graf. Besides solo playing, Ophelia has performed numerous concerts as the principle flutist with the China Youth Symphony Orchestra at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. She had a unique opportunity to play in the orchestra under the world famous Philharmonic conductor Lorin Maazel. After came to RAM, she received coaching and gained knowledge from many experienced professors and musicians in the field of Historical Performance, among them are Katharina Spreckelsen, Dr. Rachel Chaplin and Margaret Faultless to name a few. Performing across the range of Baroque Music, she has joined to the RAM’s Baroque Orchestra and has performed in Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series for many times, which received positive response from the audiences. She has performed with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall in London and St. George’s in Bristol for the Bach’s St. Matthew Passion project led by Mark Padmore. She was also invited to play at prestigious leading international recital venue in London, such as Wigmore Hall, Draper’s Hall, St. John’s Smith Square and other famous music halls throughout England.
