Ziyu He (; born 24 April 1999) is a Chinese violinist. In 2011, he moved to
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. At the age of 15, he won the
2014 Eurovision Young Musicians. He also won the
Menuhin Competition
The Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists (or simply the Menuhin Competition) is an international music competition for violinists under the age of 16. It was founded by Yehudi Menuhin in 1983 with the goal of nurturing you ...
in 2016.
Early life
Ziyu He was born in 1999 in
Qingdao
Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
and began playing the violin at the age of 5. His first violin teacher was Professor Xiangrong Zhang. In 2010 he was introduced in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
to Professor Paul Roczek from the
Mozarteum University Salzburg
Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteum ...
who recognized his exceptional talent and his great instrumental and artistic potential and invited him to study with him in
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
and to attend the International Summer Academy. Ziyu has lived in Salzburg since 2011 and studies Violin with Professor Paul Roczek and Viola with Professor Thomas Riebl, both at the Mozarteum University. He has attended masterclasses with
Ivry Gitlis
Ivry Gitlis (; 25 August 1922 – 24 December 2020) was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmoni ...
,
Ani Schnarch,
Schmuel Ashkenasi,
Vadim Gluzman, Chaim Taub, and Petru Munteanu (in
Keshet Eilon,
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and Salzburg, Austria).
Career
Ziyu was a prizewinner at the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum University in 2011 and was invited to perform
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
's
Ciaconna at the Prizewinners' Concert during the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
. He returned to the Festival in 2012 and 2013. In June 2012 he was the recipient of the Szymon Goldberg Award of the Music Academy in
Messen
Messen is a municipality in the district of Bucheggberg, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Balm bei Messen, Brunnenthal and Oberramsern merged into the municipality of Messen.
History
Messen is ...
as the youngest participant in all age divisions. He gave his orchestral debut in his home town of Qingdao, China, in November 2012 with the
Qingdao Symphony Orchestra.
In 2013, Ziyu won a special prize as well as the third prize at the International Competition for Violin, Kloster Schöntal and a third prize at the International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists. In 2014 Ziyu won first prize representing Austria at the Eurovision Young Musician's Competition in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
which was broadcast on TV all over Europe and in November 2014 performed
Prokofiev's 2nd Violin Concerto with the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Hans Graf
Hans Graf (born 15 February 1949 in Marchtrenk) is an Austrian conductor.
Biography
As a child, Graf learned the violin and the piano. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Graz, Austria, and graduated with diplomas in piano and conducting. He a ...
. The following year he won first prize in his age group at the Mozart Competition in
Zhuhai
Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
, China and at the International Instrumental Competition in
Markneukirchen
Markneukirchen () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany, close to the Czech Republic, Czech border. It lies in the Elster Mountains (part of the Fichtel Mountains), southeast of Plauen, and northeast of Aš (Czech Republic) ...
, Germany. In February 2016 he won the first prize and the prize for the best interpretation of the new commission at the International Mozart Competition in
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
. Only two months later he won the first prize in the Senior Division and three further prizes at the renowned Yehudi Menuhin Competition in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
for his performance of "Introduction and variations in G major" for violin, Op. 38, MS 44, 1827 "
Nel cor più non mi sento
"" is a duet from Giovanni Paisiello's 1788 opera ''L'amor contrastato, ossia La molinara'', usually known as ' (The Miller-Woman). The duet is sung twice in the opera's second act, first by the miller-woman Rachelina (soprano) and Calloandro ( te ...
" by
Niccolo Paganini at the 2016 Menuhin Competition. Following this victory, he made appearances on
TwoSet Violin
TwoSet Violin ( zh, t=雙琴俠) is a musical comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists and YouTubers Brett Po-yao Yang and Wei-chen "Eddy" Chen. Yang and Chen started out posting classical covers of pop music on their YouTube channel but ...
's
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel as a guest violinist.
Later in 2016, he won the second prize and a special prize at the
International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart in Augsburg.
He has performed at the
Leopold Mozart Centre at
Augsburg University
Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminari ...
and at the
Schumann House in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
in a concert in memory of
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...
.
Ziyu He played the "Schneiderhan"
Stradivarius
A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...
violin from 1715, on a one-year loan by
Beare's International Violin Society.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:He, Ziyu
1999 births
Living people
Eurovision Young Musicians winners
Chinese violinists
Musicians from Qingdao
21st-century Chinese classical violinists