About
Chinese-born violinist Shenghua “Simon” Hu is an internationally acclaimed musician and a rising star on today’s classical music scene.
Recognized as having extraordinary talent from a very young age, Mr. Hu began violin lessons at age 3 with his father. At age 7, he won the 1st prize in the Anhui Province Violin Competition in China. At age 10, he performed the Bruch Violin Concerto on Chinese television. He also began to study with China’s finest teachers at that time. After graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Professor Fang Lei, he received a full scholarship to study at the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music, with Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus. During his time in Cincinnati, Mr. Hu had the honor of being chosen as one of ten young student-artists worldwide to participate in The Juilliard School’s Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Studies. Mr. Hu has recently refined his violin artistry with the legendary violinist and pedagogue Albert Markov.
Mr. Hu has been a prizewinner in numerous international violin competitions such as the Paganini Violin Competition and Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition, and has won the Grand Prize in the LISMA International Music Competition, the Starling Violin Competition, First Prize in the Violin Section in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition (2010-2012), and Second Prize in the Gershwin International Music Competition. He has also performed with orchestras throughout the world, including the Cincinnati Philharmonic, Starling Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Conservatory Symphony, Beijing Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, Gateway Classical Music Society Orchestra, and Manhattan Symphonie. He has appeared at several world-renowned concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Zhong Shan Music Hall, and the Auditorium San Pedro. His brilliant performances can be heard on CDs as part of the Distinguished Artist Series produced by the New York Classical Music Society.