THE TEAM
NICK LUBY,
CO-DIRECTOR
Nick Luby is a 21st-century musician and artist dedicated to truth, joy, community, and service. A multi-genre pianist, improviser, and producer, he concertizes nationally as a solo recitalist and chamber musician with The Concert Truck. Since 2021, Nick has performed over 600 concerts in parks, downtown city streets and squares, neighborhoods, schools, farmers markets, and community gathering places across the country, drawing crowds throughout the US and Canada in over 20 states, and captivating thousands of listeners along the way.
Nick’s collaborators and chamber music partners include James Ehnes and the Ehnes Quartet, Efe Baltecigil, Edward Aaron, Sterling Elliot, Nathan Chan, Ara Gregorian, Rachel Lee Priday, Richard Luby, concertmasters, principals, and members of the Dallas, Seattle, and North Carolina symphonies, Alan Kay, Mikael Darmanie, Joy Guidry, Max Bent, and Lamar Adot Thomas. Nick’s performances, recordings, and interviews have been seen and heard nationwide on local, state, and national TV & radio stations.
Nick has given lectures, workshops, and coachings on music entrepreneurship, community engagement, and chamber music to undergraduate and graduate students at Rice University, the New World Symphony, the University of South Carolina, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Aspen Music Festival & School. He began teaching at the age of 15 and has served as a teacher of piano, chamber music, and improvisation at the advanced precollege level, both privately and at the Gilman School in Baltimore. He maintained in-person and remote teaching studios until 2021, nurturing his students’ love for music and guiding them to victories in international competitions.
Born and raised in Chapel Hill, NC, Nick is a laureate of the 2019 Prix Ravel in Fontainebleau, France. He holds degrees in piano performance (graduate certificate, M.M.) and music & philosophy (B.A.) from the University of South Carolina, University of Michigan, and Wesleyan University. He resides in Baltimore.
SUSAN ZHANG,
CO-DIRECTOR
Acclaimed as a pianist with "astounding musical authority" (Columbia Free Times), Susan Zhang made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Augusta Symphony. She has since been featured as a soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Aiken Civic Orchestra, the University of South Carolina Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has performed in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center as well as numerous other venues in North America, Europe, and Asia. Her recordings have been featured on SC Public Radio.
Susan was a prizewinner of the Thousand Islands Chopin Competition, the Bauru-Atlanta Competition, the Burgos International Music Festival Competition, the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, South Carolina MTNA Young Artist Competition, and the University of South Carolina Concerto Competition. Her summer festival appearances include Pianofest in the Hamptons, the Banff Piano Master Class, Burgos International Music Festival, the Southeastern Piano Festival, and Brevard Music Center.
Susan is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the University of South Carolina. Her primary teachers have included Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, Enrico Elisi, and Boris Slutsky. Susan has served on faculty at the Gilman School and Peabody Conservatory.