Artist Spotlight

 Artist Spotlight

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang is celebrated for his eloquent music making, distinctive sound and effortless virtuosity. The Washington Post proclaimed Mr. Huang as “an artist with the goods for a significant career” following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center.

His recent and forthcoming engagements include his recital debut at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Aspen Music Festival, as well as appearances with the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev (St. Petersburg’s White Nights Festival), Berliner Symphoniker with Lior Shambadal (Philharmonie Berlin debut), Detroit Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, Houston Symphony with Andres Orozco-Estrada, Orchestra of St. Luke’s with Carlos Miguel Prieto, Seoul Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony and Grant Park Festival Orchestra with Markus Stenz, North Carolina Symphony and Charlotte Symphony with Gemma New, Buffalo Philharmonic with JoAnn Falletta, Pacific Symphony with Carl St. Clair, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan with ShaoChia Lu and the Taipei Symphony with Jahja Ling (both in Taipei and on a U.S. tour). The 2019-20 season will also see Mr. Huang giving the German premiere of Tan Dun’s Violin Concerto “Fire Ritual” with the Nuremberg Symphony with Kahchun Wong and appearances in the U.S. with the Tucson Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Long Beach Symphony, Brevard Symphony and Mobile Symphony.

Recital and chamber music performances this season will include Mr. Huang’s recital debut for People’s Symphony Concerts in New York, a recital tour across North America and Taiwan with pianist Helen Huang, as well as his debut at the Wolf Trap in Washington, D.C. He will also return to Camerata Pacifica in Santa Barbara and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for three separate tours in the U.S., Europe and the Far East.

His first solo CD, Intimate Inspiration, is a collection of favorite virtuoso and romantic encore pieces released on the CHIMEI label. In association with Camerata Pacifica, he recorded “Four Songs of Solitude” for solo violin on their album of John Harbison works. The album was released on the Harmonia Mundi label in fall 2014.

A frequent guest artist at music festivals worldwide, he has performed at the Seattle, Music@Menlo, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Moritzburg, Kissinger Sommer, Sion, Orford Musique and the PyeongChang Music Festival in Korea. His collaborators have included Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Maxim Rysanov, Mischa Maisky, Jian Wang, Frans Helmerson, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman and Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Winner of the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Huang made critically acclaimed recital debuts in New York and in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center. Other honors include First Prize at the 2009 Tibor Varga International Violin Competition Sion-Valais in Switzerland, the 2009 Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation Arts Award for Taiwan’s Most Promising Young Artists, the 2013 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant and the 2014 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award.

Born in Taiwan, Mr. Huang began violin lessons at the age of seven. He is a proud recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. He plays on the 1742 ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesù on loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago. His website is www.paulhuangviolin.com.