Born in Cixi,Ningbo in 1996. When he was eight, he began his music journey with Chinese traditional instrument Erhu. In 2010, he was admitted to the Shanghai Music Middle School and studied double bass with Professor Luo Bing. Following this, he moved to Switzerland in 2012 to entered in the class of Bo Yuan (Professor of Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, Principal Bassist of L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande). Between 2012-2020, he successfully obtained his Bachelor degree as well as two Master's degrees at Haute École de Musique de Lausanne.

As a professional orchestra bassist, he was appointed Principal Bassist of Nanchang Symphony Orchestra, Co-Principal Bassist of Sinfonietta de Lausanne, substitute bassist of L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and invited as guest player in multiple swiss orchestras, working with conductors including Yu Feng, Joshua Weilerstein, Hannu Lintu, Simone Young, Renaud Capuçon,Lawrence Foster, David Reiland etc.

Tienan Zhou joined Ningbo Symphony Orchestra as Principal Bassist in 2022.