Simon Zhu is a rising violinist with a versatile repertoire. He was born in Tübingen in 2001 and received his first violin lessons at the age of six. His extraordinary talent was recognized early on. He studied at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and Julius Stern Institut der Universität der Künste Berlin, where he studied with Prof. Wonji Kim-Ozim and Tomasz Tomaszewski. He is currently studying with Prof. Ana Chumachenco at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and receives guidance from violinist Ning Feng.

His successes are remarkable. In 2016, he won First Prize at the 13th International Georg Philipp Telemann Competition in Poznan, Poland; in 2016, he also received the Bruno Frey Music Prize awarded by the Bruno Frey Foundation, Ochsenhausen. In 2017, he was awarded First Prize at the 17th International Violin Competition in Kloster Schöntal. In 2018, First Prize at the 34th Valsesia Musica International Competition. In 2019, First Prize at Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians; and First Prize at the 7th International Chamber Music Competition Bydgoszcz with his duo partner Adam Tomaszewski in 2020. In May 2021, he won Second Prize at the Menuhin Competition in Richmond, Virginia, as well as the Mozart Prize and the European Community EMCY Award for his outstanding performance at the Menuhin Competition. In October 2023, he won First Prize at 2023 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa, Italy, and the special prize for the best Paganini concerto, as well as a number of important concert engagements and the rare opportunity to perform on Paganini’s own violin “Cannone” by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1743.

Simon Zhu made his debut at Berlin Philharmonie in 2015 and has since performed several times as a soloist with orchestras. He was a guest at the International Young Masters Violin Festival on Lake Constance and is a scholarship holder of the Menuhin Festival & Academy. He has given concerts in Germany, England, France, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, China and South Korea, performing with renowned orchestras including Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice and Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino among others.

He has worked and will be working with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Michal Klauza, Long Yu, Xincao Li, Renchang Fu and etc.

Highlights of 2024/25 season include his debuts with London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra and Tianjin Symphony Orchestra.

Simon is a scholarship holder at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and takes part in intensive music weeks and activities of the Academy. He has been a scholarship recipient of the German Music Foundation since 2016. He was an academist at the Hope Music Academy 2020 and at the Walter Stauffer Academy of Cremona 2020-2022, where he worked with Salvatore Accardo.

In the years of 2020-2023, Simon Zhu performed on a fine old Montagnana violin, generously loaned by the Florian Leonhard Fellowship. Simon now plays an important violin by Zosimo Bergonzi, Cremona around 1760. The instrument is on generous loan from the Stretton Society.