Since his gold medal win at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, having been the first Asian gold medalist in the history of this top international piano competition, Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences all over the world with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. In 2022, Haochen's collection of essays on classical music entitled On the Other Side of Performing was published in Mainland China.

In March 2025, Haochen released his latest album on BIS, performing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major “HammerKlavier” and Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, receiving widespread acclaim. His four previous studio albums were also released by BIS.

Highlights of Haochen's recent season include the first coopreation with the Berliner Konzarthaus Orchester, returns to the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He also made his recital debut at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Furthermore, as the Artist-in-Residence at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, he performed the complete piano concertos of Liszt and Rachmaninoff, among other projects. He also performs the complete piano concertos of Rachmaninoff with Hong Kong Philharmonic in Shenzhen Concert Hall. In addition, he has collaborated with renowned orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and so on. His performances have reached many of the world's prestigious music venues, including the Berliner Philharmonie, the Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Teatro alla Scala, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, etc. He has collaborated with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tugan Sokhiev, Long Yu, and others.

Haochen has already appeared at many of the world's leading festivals, including the BBC Proms, the Lucerne Festival, the Verbier Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Festival international de Piano de La Roque d'Anthéron, the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the La Jolla Music Society's SummerFest and others. As an avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with ensembles such as the Dover, Takács, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Brentano Quartets.

Haochen has studied with the esteemed Professor Dan Zhaoyi, and later with pianists Gary Graffman and Andreas Haefliger.