Biography

Simon Zhu is a rising violinist whose versatility and expressive depth have earned him international recognition. In October 2023, he won First Prize at the International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa, Italy, along with the Special Prize for the Best Performance of a Paganini Concerto. This achievement led to numerous concert engagements and the rare privilege of performing on Paganini’s own violin, the legendary “Il Cannone” by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1743).

In 2021, Simon received Second Prize at the Menuhin Competition in Richmond, Virginia, as well as the Mozart Prize and the European Community EMCY Award. Earlier accolades include First Prize at the International Georg Philipp Telemann Competition in Poznań (2016), the Bruno Frey Music Prize (2016), First Prize at the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition (2017), Valsesia Musica (2018), the Zhuhai Mozart Competition (2019), and the Bydgoszcz International Chamber Music Competition (2020), the latter with his duo partner Adam Tomaszewski.

Simon made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2015 and has since performed there multiple times as a soloist. He has appeared across Europe and Asia —in Germany, England, France, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Korea, and China— collaborating with orchestras such as the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, and the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, under conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Stanislav Kochanovsky.

A milestone in his career took place on October 15, 2024, when he performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano at the Guildhall in London, once again on “Il Cannone.” The concert was attended by His Majesty King Charles III, who met Simon after the performance.

Simon is a scholarship holder at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and the German Music Foundation, and has participated in the Hope Music Academy (2020) and the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona (2020–2022), where he studied with Salvatore Accardo. He currently studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) with Prof. Ana Chumachenco and Prof. Ingolf Turban, while also receiving mentorship from Ning Feng.

Between 2020 and 2023, he performed on a fine old Montagnana violin, generously loaned by the Florian Leonhard Fellowship. He now plays an important instrument by Zosimo Bergonzi, Cremona, circa 1760.