Pinch Records is delighted to announce the July 16, 2025 release of Birds In Dream Land, the highly anticipated second EP from 21-year-old composer, arranger, orchestrator and video-game scorer Zhengtao Pan. Following his debut big-band album Scenery In My Story (Outside In Music, April 2025), Pan turns his attention to nature’s most lyrical subjects—birds—crafting an aural aviary of fluttering woodwinds and soaring strings performed by members of the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and the European Recording Orchestra.
A three-time DownBeat Student Award winner and recipient of the Jazz Education Network’s Best Large Instrumental Composition prize, Pan has already earned praise from critics and fellow musicians alike. “Pan has come a long way in a few short years as a composer and arranger; what is even more promising is that he still has a long way to go,” raves Jack Bowers of All About Jazz. For Pan, melody is paramount: “Every note functions as a tool for me to express my identity,” he explains, underscoring his commitment to creating music that resonates far beyond the concert hall.
Birds In Dream Land unfolds over six tracks, beginning with the playful dualities of Bird Dance and the elegant counterpoint of Bird Waltz, both scored for an unconventional woodwind quintet—piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet and bass clarinet—employing extended techniques and shifting meters to evoke avian calls and wingbeats. The title track, Birds In Dream Land, offers a slow-building piccolo cadenza and canonic imitations that symbolize migratory journeys and the search for sanctuary. At its midpoint, Pan seamlessly swaps woodwinds for a string quartet—two violins, viola and cello—ushering in the introspective Capucine Avenue before culminating in the jazz-inflected, harmonically rich farewell Till The End.
A student of jazz composition at Berklee College of Music, Pan balances concert works with prolific media scoring credits on titles such as Lost Soul Aside, One Piece: The Bloodline and Arknights. He has arranged for ensembles ranging from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to Grammy-winning jazz big bands, and his virtual-singer projects on Bilibili have amassed over one million views. With Birds In Dream Land, he brings that boundary-defying versatility to a concise, tonal masterpiece designed for both aficionados and newcomers.
Track Listing
Bird Dance (3:13)
Bird Waltz (3:02)
Birds In Dream Land (2:58)
Capucine Avenue (4:30)
Water Lily (3:08)
Till The End (2:19)
About Zhengtao Pan
Born and raised in Shanghai, Zhengtao Pan is a composer and arranger based in Boston while studying Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music. His accolades include three DownBeat Student Awards, a Jazz Education Network Grand Prize, and international composing and arranging competition wins. Pan’s credits span orchestral arrangements, concert commissions and original scores for anime and video games—most notably Lost Soul Aside and One Piece: The Bloodline. He has collaborated with ensembles including the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, European Recording Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Grammy-winning jazz baselines. His debut big-band album Scenery In My Story garnered four-star reviews for its warmth and vitality, and his forthcoming second big-band project, featuring Rufus Reid and Steve Wilson, is set for release in May 2026.
