World-renowned Chinese conductor's latest recording Letters for the Future picks up two major gongs at prestigious music awards ceremony, Chen Nan reports.

It happened when she was at her home in New Jersey.

Conductor Zhang Xian got a phone message from her colleague, telling her that she had won two Grammy Awards.

"I was very surprised and excited. Since there is a 3-hour difference between the west and east coasts, I didn't watch the ceremony on TV, but I saw it on YouTube," says Zhang in an email interview with China Daily.

Zhang is currently in her seventh season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, which is currently in its 100th anniversary season.