

KEVIN ZHU
VIOLINIST

October 27, 2022
Concert on demand

July 29, 2022
Album release
The Dvořák Album
Dvořák: Piano Quartet in E flat major
with Matthew Lipman, Jan Vogler, Juho Pohjonen

April 7, 2022
Concert on demand
Gdańsk, Poland
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 2
Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka
Daniel Smith, conductor
BIOGRAPHY
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 Carnegie Hall in New York 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 2022-23 season, Kevin will make concerto debuts with the Des Moines Symphony and at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, and embarks on a project to record the 24 Paganini Caprices on Paganini’s famed violin ‘Il Cannone’, something never done before in history. He performs the complete Caprices in Italy, Singapore, and Germany, and makes his Merkin Hall recital debut with a program inspired by ballet and operatic masterpieces.
Recent performing highlights include concerto appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, and China Philharmonic Orchestra. A highly sought-after recitalist, he has toured across the United States and Europe with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to contemporary commissions. Kevin is also a passionate chamber musician, collaborating with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Power, and Jan Vogler.
In addition to his efforts 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 c1722 “Lord Wandsworth” Antonio Stradivari violin, which is on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.

CONCERTS
February 4 - 5, 2023
Des Moines, IA - Des Moines Civic Center
Masterworks
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
with Des Moines Symphony
Joseph Giunta, conductor
February 13, 2023
New York, NY - The Kosciuszko Foundation
Omega Ensemble Winter Gala
Works by Schubert and Brahms
with Sebastian Stöger, cello; Yannick Rafalimanana, piano
February 19, 2023
Singapore - Victoria Concert Hall
Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1
May 16, 2023
New York, NY - Merkin Hall
Tuesday Matinees
Works by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Massenet, Wieniawski, Messiaen, and Waxman
Recital with Pianist TBA




VIDEOS
GALLERY









MUSINGS
A space for wandering thoughts - to be released on the first of every month!
Changing of the Seasons
December 2022
I like to think that each season is like a person - as you live longer they become old friends, and they have different stories to tell each time. I love when the seasons meet! It’s beautiful to see the first flower bloom, as winter becomes spring; to play the game of ‘how long can I keep the air-conditioning off’, as spring bursts into summer; or to hold onto that inescapable vibrance of a warm night, as summer fades into fall.
I had a strangely poetic experience this fall - it must have been early November - when I walked through Central Park in New York and saw a tree where half the leaves were flaming red-orange, and the other half had completely fallen off, leaving bare branches in their wake. Almost immediately I thought of Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, which I then felt compelled to listen to. Strauss never envisioned or intended his work to be heard this way - on a mobile phone in the middle of a park in New York - but somehow it seemed right for the moment! I wonder what the next change of season has in store...
CONTACT
MANAGEMENT
China (incl. HK, Macau, and Taiwan)
美杰音乐 / Major Performing Arts Group
刘益生 / Eason Liu
+86 138 0103 5030
刘依 / Amaya Liu
+86 187 1013 8080
To contact Kevin directly, please use the form below.
Photo credits
Giusi Lorelli:
Andrea Ranzi:
Aurora Ghigino
Oliver Killig