American cellist Zlatomir Fung (b. 1999) is already on the list of the world’s most distinguished young cellists, impressing audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity. Born into a family of mathematicians (his mother was Bulgarian, his father of Chinese descent), he fell in love with the cello and began playing at the age of three. He won many national and international competitions such as: Tchaikovsky for young musicians in Montreux-Vevey (silver medal, 2012), Brahms in Pörtschach, Austria (2nd place, 2013), first prizes at the Irwin Klein in San Francisco and Stulberg International String Competition in Kalamazoo, Michigan (2014), 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players in Washington (2015), the 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition in Bucharest (2016), International Auditions for Young Concert Artists (2017), Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China (2018). In 2019 he won First Prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow thus becoming the youngest cellist ever in the competition’s history to win this recognition. virtuosity and extraordinary sensitivity.
Zlatomir Fung is a graduate of Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. He was selected as a 2016 US Presidential Scholar for the Arts and was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses. Fung was announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022. The following year hе was named to WXQR’s Artist Propulsion Lab.
As Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2023/24 season, Fung appears at London’s Cadogan Hall and tours the UK with the orchestra. Fung has performed in the USA, Europe and Asia. He has toured Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille and BBC Philharmonic, as well as the Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle, Milwaukee, Utah, Rochester and Kansas City symphony orchestras. Fung made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021. He has participated in prestigious festivals in Verbier, Dresden, Aspen, Cleveland, Janacek May, Cello Biennalle, etc.
Alongside demonstrating a mastery of the canon with his impeccable technique, Fung brings exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire, championing composers such as Unsuk Chin, Katherine Balch, and Anna Clyne. In 2023, under the baton of Gemma New and with the Dallas Symphony, Fung gave the world premiere of Katherine Balch’s “whisper concerto” with jaw-dropping brilliance (Dallas Morning News).
Zlatomir Fung plays a 1717 cello, masterfully crafted by David Tecchler in Rome, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous benefactor. Outside of music, his interests include blitz chess, cinema and creative writing.