Violinist Jimmy Zhang is an active performer and teacher in Canada, the United States, and South Korea. He is currently one of the violinists of the award-winning Vito Quartet.

 

   An avid chamber musician, Jimmy was the first-place winner of the Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award in years 2015 and 2016; with Chiron String Quartet and Piano Trio. Jimmy studied chamber music extensively with members of the Cecilia Quartet, Gryphon Trio, Timothy Ying, Steven Dann, Karen Dreyfus, and Andrew Shulman. His chamber music education also includes masterclasses with the Juilliard Quartet, Cecilia Quartet, New Orford Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Ysaye Quartet, Brentano String Quartet, Cuarteto Casals, and the Tokyo String Quartet

 

   As an orchestral musician, Jimmy has performed as concertmaster of many orchestras including the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, Orford Festival Orchestra, and the Interlochen Academy Orchestra. He has also previously held principal positions in festivals such as American Modern Festival and the Prague Summer Nights Music Festival. Most recently, he performed with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra as substitute violin on their tour across Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. He is a frequent member of the Toronto Festival Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Seocho Philharmonic, Brantford Symphony Orchestra, Vincente Chamber Orchestra, and Downey Symphony.

 

   A firm believer in versatility, Jimmy performed with the USC Baroque Sinfonia for two years as principal violin. During his time with the USC Baroque Sinfonia, Jimmy performed Renaissance and Baroque music from Europe, South America, and the Middle East. On the contrary, he has also worked with many living composers from across the United States and Canada. Jimmy has performed works by composers such as Ted Hearne, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, and Eric Tanguy.

 

   Jimmy is equally passionate about teaching as he is about performing. As a result of online teaching, he currently runs a studio of students of all ages and levels from around the world. He has taught privately and in public masterclasses for the past 10 years.

 

   He holds a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Lina Bahn. During his studies, he was awarded the Colburn Scholarship along with many Merit Scholarships. He also holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto where he studied under both Paul Kantor and Erika Raum. He received his Bachelors in Violin Performance from the University of Toronto where he was awarded The Gerhard Kander Graduating Award for Violin.

 

   He likes to spend his free time playing basketball, cooking, and relaxing at home with his wife, Yeseul Kim (other violinist of the Vito Quartet), and cats; Latte and Eevee.

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