Since winning the First Prize of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1985, violinist Nai-Yuan Hu has appeared on many of the world’s stages, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, David Geffen Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and other major venues in Europe, North and South Americas, and Asia. In praise of his playing, BBC Music Magazine wrote, “Taiwanese violinist Nai-Yuan Hu is an awesomely capable performer whose technical facility, musical intelligence and unfaltering verve place him among the higher echelons of today’s string virtuosi.”
Hu’s solo engagements include appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Netherland and Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestras, Belgian National Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille in France, Haifa Symphony, Austro-Hungarian Haydn Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Taiwan Philharmonic, China and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras, and others. He has collaborated with conductors such as George Cleve, Adam Fischer, Leon Fleisher, Günther Herbig, Emmanuel Krivine, Jahja Ling, Shao-Chia Lu, Tadaaki Otaka, Jean Bernard Pommier, Gerard Schwarz, Maxim Shostakovich, Hubert Soudant, and Yu Long.
As a recitalist, Hu has performed in such venues as Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and Jordan Hall in Boston where he premiered Bright Sheng’s The Stream Flows in 1990.
Hu’s recording of Goldmark’s Concerto and Bruch’s Concerto No. 2 with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (released by Delos Music) garnered “Critics’ Choice” from Gramophone as well as praises from many publications including BBC Music Magazine, The Times of London, and The Washington Post. He has also recorded for EMI Taiwan, Koch International, Sunrise, and Chimei in Taiwan, playing on the Foundation’s Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù violins.
Hu has served on the jury of international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium and the Seoul International Violin Competition. Born in Taiwan, he began studying the violin at age five. He arrived in the United States in 1972 to continue his studies with Broadus Erle and later with Joseph Silverstein. He attended Indiana University, where he studied with Josef Gingold and subsequently served as Mr. Gingold’s assistant. He currently resides with his wife June Huang in New York City.