Chinese tenor Yukang Zheng is an emerging lyric tenor whose repertoire is developing with a particular focus on Mozart, Rossini and Italian bel canto. In 2026, he was awarded the Voci Emergenti Prize at the 77th AsLiCo International Competition and joined both the Accademia Rossiniana “Alberto Zedda” of the Rossini Opera Festival and the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program of the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

At the 2026 Rossini Opera Festival, Zheng appeared as Cavalier Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims, following performances in the Accademia Rossiniana concerts. His interpretation was praised for its light, elegant tenor, stage presence and command of the Italian language.

2026/27 SEASON

During the 2026/27 season, Yukang Zheng is a member of the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

His engagements include Don Eusebio in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro, as well as appearances in the contemporary opera Romanzo criminale. In April 2027, he appears as tenor soloist in Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E-flat major with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Ivor Bolton.

Further engagements at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino include Poisson in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur and Ferrando in Così fan tutte.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

In summer 2026, Zheng was selected for the prestigious Accademia Rossiniana “Alberto Zedda” at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where he performed Cavalier Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims and appeared in a series of Rossini concerts.

Earlier in 2026, he appeared as Filipeto in Wolf-Ferrari’s I quattro rusteghi at the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni in Modena and as Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Festival Como Città della Musica.

His developing repertoire also includes Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, performed at the Teatro Goldoni in Florence, and Conte Alberto in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro at the Teatro della Pergola.

Zheng has also appeared as a concert soloist in Florence, including performances at the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and with the Orchestra della Toscana at the Teatro del Maggio.

Born in China, Yukang Zheng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music before continuing his training in Italy at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, where he graduated under Maria Costanza Nocentini. He was a semifinalist at the 2025 International Alfredo Kraus Competition and received the Voci Emergenti Prize at the 77th AsLiCo International Competition in 2026.

SELECTED ROLES

Cavalier Belfiore · Il viaggio a Reims

Rossini Opera Festival

Nemorino · L’elisir d’amore

Teatro Goldoni, Florence

Conte Alberto · L’occasione fa il ladro

Teatro della Pergola, Florence