Ziyu He

The outstanding young violinist ZIYU HE was one of the youngest soloists to debut at the Musikverein with the Vienna Philharmonic under Adam Fischer in 2017, at just 17 years old. He began studying violin at the age of five in his native country. At ten, he was invited by Prof. Paul Roczek to join his class at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he completed his master’s degree in violin in 2021 and began postgraduate studies with Prof. Benjamin Schmid. In 2023, he graduated with honors and a master’s degree in viola after studying with Prof. Thomas Riebl. Ziyu He was named Eurovision Young Musician of the Year in 2014, representing Austria in Cologne. He was a laureate at international competitions in Germany in 2013—Kloster Schönthal (third prize and special prize) and Louis Spohr Competition in Weimar (third prize). In 2015, he won first prize at the Mozart International Competition for Young Musicians in Zhuhai, China. In 2016, he won both the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition in London, and received the Second and Special Prize at the International Leopold Mozart Competition for Violinists in Augsburg. His orchestral engagements include performances with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and the philharmonic orchestras of Georgia, Zagreb, Singapore, Macao, and Auckland, among others. He has collaborated with conductors such as Adam Fischer, Christopher Warren-Green, Choo Hoey, Tung-Chieh Chuang, Diego Matheuz, James Judd, Howard Griffiths, Ilyich Rivas, Kazuki Yamada, Kerem Hasan, Kristiina Poska, Thomas Rösner, Steven Sloane, Leo Kuokman, Valery Gergiev, and regularly with Hans Graf, to name but a few. Recently, he performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Leo Kuokman and was invited by Hans Graf to join the Singapore Symphony Orchestra for concerts and CD recordings, with the next scheduled for May 2026. He has also appeared with Camerata Schweiz, the Belgrade Philharmonic with Howard Griffiths, and the Sofia Philharmonic under Uroš Lajović, performed at the BBC Belfast Proms, and made his debut at the George Enescu Festival. Highlights of his 2024/2025 season include concerts and recordings of works by Hans Werner Henze with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Lin Liao, Brahms’ Double Concerto with Hans Graf, performances of Britten’s Violin Concerto with the Slovak Philharmonic under James Judd and with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra under Carlo Tenan, solo recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus in the “Great Talents” series, a concert with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Rösner, participation in Munich’s “Rising Stars” series with Benjamin Schmid, and performances of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Ziyu He is a member of the renowned Altenberg Trio, which regularly performs popular concert cycles in the Brahms Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. He plays an Antonio Stradivari violin “ex Rouse-Boughton” (1698), provided by the Austrian National Bank, and a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola (1797), generously loaned by private sponsors.