A third-year Butler Studio artist from Shandong, China, Ziniu Zhao was the second-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. In HGO’s 2026-27 season, Zhao sings the roles of Elder Ott in Susannah and Sarastro in Family Day for The Magic Flute. Past roles at HGO include Maestro Spinellocchio in Gianni Schicchi (Il trittico), the French General in Silent Night, Candy in the Butler Studio production of Of Mice and Men, Don Magnifico in Family Day for Cinderella, and Reinmar von Zweter in Tannhäuser. In summer 2026, Zhao was a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, where he sang the role of Don Magnifico in Cinderella. In 2025, he was a winner of the San Francisco District in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and sang Leporello in a concert version of Don Giovanni at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing. Zhao was a member of the Opera Talent Training Program of the China National Arts Foundation and has won several prestigious awards, including first prize at the Colorado International Music Competition, the Rossini Singing Award at the Fiorenza Cedolins Opera Competition in Italy, and the Maria Callas Award at the Vincerò International Opera Competition, also in Italy. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where his operatic roles included Don Pasquale, Colline in La bohème, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.