Wang Zhijong

Wang Zhijong made her solo debut at the age of 14 with the Orchestre National de Lille under Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Since then she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Orchestre National de Radio France, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Konzerthausorcheser Berlin and Warsaw Philharmonic.

Wang Zhijong won First Prize at the 1998 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition and, in the same year, became the youngest-ever First-Prize winner in the China National Violin Competition. She has also received prizes from the Sibelius Violin Competition, Lipizer Violin Competition and Tchaikovsky Competition. In 2006 the China edition of Gramophone magazine featured her in a full-page report, and musical critics acclaimed her as “a rare new star in Asia”. Her recent CD release includes Sibelius and Stravinsky violin concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Thomas Sanderling.

Wang has studied at Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the renowned Chinese violinist Professor Lina Yu. She later studied with Kolja Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin, where she also worked as Professor Blacher’s assistant. She is currently Associate Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She plays a Stradivari 1716 kindly loaned by China Foundation.