Zhilin Zhang is a second year PhD student. She received her BM in Music Education from Henan University and an MM in Music Education from the University of Michigan. She has diverse teaching experience in both China and the U.S. Zhilin taught for two years in a public school, in an early childhood program, and for eight years as a flute teacher in China. She has also taught in a summer band program and an urban music program in Ann Arbor. Most recently, she has been teaching the Theory in Motion class at the Eastman Community Music School. Zhilin’s research interests include cross-cultural music education, marginalized students, and international comparative research.

Zhilin chose Eastman because to her, “The entire faculty at Eastman has been tremendous, really supporting and catering to the research interests and needs of all doctoral students. Eastman also provided us with extensive opportunities for college teaching, presentations, scholarly publication, and performance.” A fun fact about Zhilin: “I play the Chinese flute (dizi) and perform with the Rochester Chinese Ensemble in the Greater Rochester area.”