First prize at international viola competition goes to Xunyu Zhou

Xunyu Zhou wird ein Strauß Blumen überreicht
(Photo: unbekannt)
erfolgsmeldung

Congra­tu­la­ti­ons to vio­la stu­dent Xun­yu Zhou! From Ja­nu­a­ry 19 to 25, 2025, she took part in the In­ter­na­tio­nal Ce­cil Aro­no­witz Com­pe­ti­ti­on for Vio­la and won the first pri­ze. In the fi­nal round she play­ed the Vio­la Con­cer­to in D by F.A. Hoff­meis­ter and Brit­ten's Lachry­mae for Vio­la and Strings, op. 48a with the Roy­al Nort­hern Sin­fo­nia and con­duc­tor Tho­mas Ze­het­mair.

At the HfMDK, Xun­yu Zhou has been stu­dy­ing the Ar­tis­tic Mu­sic Stu­dies Ba­che­lor de­gree cour­se in Prof. Ta­bea Zim­mer­man­n's class sin­ce 2024.

» My dear professor, Tabea Zimmermann, was the first to send me a congratulatory message. At that moment, the thing I most wanted to do was to give her a deep hug and thank her for her guidance. Tabea is not only my teacher but also my role model! I am very glad that I could win the first prize in this competition. This success will inspire me to move forward more bravely! Thank you to all those who have supported and helped me! «Xunyu Zhou, viola student
Xunyu Zhou läuft auf die Bühne mit ihrer Viola. Hinter ihr sitzen Orchestermusikerinnen, die teilweise lachen und klatschen.
(Foto: unbekannt)

(Xun­yu Zhou's per­for­mance starts at 1:40:34.)

The com­pe­ti­ti­on

The Ce­cil Aro­no­witz In­ter­na­tio­nal Vio­la Com­pe­ti­ti­on (CAIVC) is open to vio­lists aged 18 and un­der. The first pri­ze is en­do­wed with 5,000 pounds. The win­ner also re­cei­ves several per­for­mance op­por­tu­nities, a Ro­bert Shal­lock bow and the chan­ce to re­cord a de­but al­bum with Champs Hill Re­cords. This ye­ar's com­pe­ti­ti­on con­sisted of four rounds and took place at the Glass­house In­ter­na­tio­nal Cen­ter for Mu­sic in Gates­head, Eng­land, with Tho­mas Riebl, Li Sheng, Jo Cole, Gar­field Jack­son and Ás­dís Val­di­mars­dót­tir as jud­ges.

Vita

Xunyu Zhou was born on December 4, 2007, studied viola at the Affiliated Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music with professor Nian Liu from 2017 to 2024. In September 2024, she began her bachelor degree with professor Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main.

In September 2020, she won the Grand Prize of the 21st Italian "Montelosa Cavai Award" Valcecia International Youth Music Competition. In 2021, she performed with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra at the Shanghai Philharmonic Hall. Since 2022, she has been admitted to the Morningside Music Bridge for three consecutive years. In 2022, she won the Grand Prize of the 11th Italian "Giuseppe Raciti" International String Competition (C Group).

In 2023, she participated in the Kronberg Viola Masterclass in Germany. In September 2023, she entered the final round and was the laureate of the 5th Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition and played Hoffmeister viola concerto with the Pilsner Philharmonic. In 2024, she entered the semi-finals of the Primrose Viola International Competition. In 2025, she won the first prize in the Cecil Aronowitz international viola competition.

Ques­ti­ons & Con­tact

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