Position:
Visiting Assistant Professor, Violin
Email:
kevin.zhu@su.edu
Employed Since:
Fall 2023
Educational History:
B.M., The Juilliard School
Professional Highlights:
American violinist Kevin Zhu has amassed an outstanding record of concert performances and competition wins since he began playing violin at age three. Praised for his “awesome technical command and maturity” (The Strad) and “absolute virtuosity, almost blinding in its incredible purity” (L’ape musicale), Kevin has performed on the world’s largest stages, ranging from the Konzerthaus Berlin to London’s Royal Festival Hall to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Initially coming to international attention after winning the 2018 Paganini Competition and 2012 Yehudi Menuhin Competition, he has established himself as a leading figure among the next generation of musicians, astonishing audiences with his peerless technical mastery and inimitable artistic voice.
In the 2023/24 season, Kevin makes his Kennedy Center debut performing Bernstein’s “Serenade” (after Plato’s Symposium), returns to the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and Victoria Hall in Singapore, and tours with cellist Jan Vogler and pianist Andrew Armstrong. Kevin embarks on a multi-city recital tour across China and makes his debut at the Esplanade Concert Hall with Shostakovich’s first violin concerto.
Recent performing highlights include concerts on Paganini’s famed violin “Il Cannone,” concerto appearances in Beijing and at the historic Reggia di Caserta in Italy, and recitals in Santiago de Chile and Montréal’s Salle Bourgie. Kevin is also a passionate chamber musician, collaborating frequently with artists such as Louis Lortie, Lawrence Power and Boris Giltburg.
In addition to his endeavors on stage, Kevin serves as a Culture Ambassador of the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation of China. He has been featured on ABC Eyewitness News, BBC Radio 3, and RAI Radio 3, and is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant.
Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. Kevin performs on the c1700 “ex-Petri” Antonio Stradivari violin, which is on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
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