>View CV (updated Jan. 2026).

Short bio (125 words):

Charlie Zhong (b. 2007) is a Shanghai-born composer, conductor, singer-songwriter, and lyricist based in New Haven and Boston who works with concert music, theater, film, and multimedia. He has earned prestigious prizes for his compositions - most notably, an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Award (2023), a 1st place of the American Prize in Composition (2023), and an inaugural winner of the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra Young Composers Competition.

Charlie is currently a student at Yale University studying Music and Global Affairs, and is a performing member and student conductor of the Yale Glee Club.

Charlie has studied composition with Tak Cheung-Hui, Jeanine Tesori, Kareem Roustom, Justin Casinghino, Martin Amlin, and conducting with David Hodgkins and Jeffrey Douma. He is a former student of The Walden School.

Full bio:

Charlie Zhong (b. 2007) is a Shanghai-born composer, conductor, singer-songwriter, and lyricist based in New Haven and Boston. As a composer, Charlie writes works for concert music, theater, film, and multimedia.

Charlie was a winner of the 2023 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards; the 1st place winner of the 2023 American Prize in Composition, music for orchestra (high school division); the inaugural winner of the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra Young Composers Competition, which led to the commissioning and premiere of “Stilling Memory” by the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra during their 2023-24 season; a winner of the 2021 National Young Composers Challenge, which included the world premiere of “Like a Single Star in the Night Sky” by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in 2022; an Honorable Mention in the 2023 BMI Composer Awards; and the 1st place winner of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York’s Emerging Composers Competition (2022-23). He has also been awarded the ASCAP Foundation Irving Berlin Summer Music Camp Scholarship (2022).

Charlie also serves as Music Director in musicals and operas, have have been in productions such as Assassins (2027), Jesus Christ Superstar (2027), and Cinderella (2026), all of which produced by Yale College Arts. Charlie's debut album as a songwriter, Angels Under the Moonbeam, was released in May 2025. The album features 8 tracks of fully original songs and runs about 35 minutes long.

Charlie is currently a student at Yale University studying Music and Global Affairs. He is a performing member and student conductor of the Yale Glee Club, which he has toured with both domestically (New York City, Philidelphia, San Juan, Washington D.C.) and internationally (Bulgaria and Romania).

Charlie has studied composition with Tak Cheung-Hui, Kareem Roustom, Justin Casinghino, Martin Amlin, musical theater composition with Jeanine Tesori, and conducting with David Hodgkins and Jeff Douma. He has been a participant of The Walden School's Young Musicians Program, Longy's Divergent Studio, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.