“Luke is in a class by himself with total command of the instrument, fearless technical facility, assertive projection of musical ideas, and rapport with the audience.”
Photography: Miclen LaiPeng
Born in Shanghai, raised in Houston, and currently living in Berlin, American violinist and composer Luke Hsu (ARAM - Associate at the Royal Academy of Music) has an artistic philosophy that eschews borders. Believing in the power of art to transcend the boundaries of one’s lived experience, he draws on his passions for history, culture, and folk music in crafting his interpretations, and champions music of our time as enthusiastically as that of the past. Luke’s performances have been critically praised around the world, most recently by the critics from his Warsaw Philharmonic debut as “playing with perfect technique” and from Seen and Heard International as “jaw-dropping.”
Luke maintains an active performing schedule as a soloist and a chamber musician. Currently, he is bringing the complete Paganini 24 Caprices to halls across Europe and the US, garnering critical acclaim everywhere. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Windsor Castle, Kennedy Center, Herkulessaal, Philharmonie Berlin, BOZAR, and many others. He has soloed with numerous renowned orchestras from around the world, and worked closely with eminent conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Pascal Verrot, Nikolaj Znaider, Hugh Wolff, Cristian Macelaru and Jean-Jacques Kantarow. He has also played for royalty around the world including His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Edward and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
In addition to his solo appearances, Luke is a devoted and passionate chamber musician. With four other Berlin-based musicians, Luke is a founding member of Tonhain Kollektiv, an exciting chamber music society based in Berlin. He is also a founding member of the Goethe Quartet. In addition, he has collaborated with luminaries such as Itamar Golan, Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Peter Frankl, and Colin Carr. His festival appearances include Verbier, Gstaad, Presteigne, Romsey, La Jolla SummerFest, Wieniawski, Music@Menlo, and Yellow Barn. Luke is also regularly invited to Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music.
A laureate of the Queen Elisabeth competition, Luke has won prizes at many of the most prestigious violin competitions in the world. He won the Bronze Medal, the Bach Prize, and the Mozart Sonata Prize at the 10th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the 1st prize at the ISANGYUN Competition. Luke has been consistently lauded for his interpretations of Mozart, receiving another special prize for them at the Wieniawski Competition. His other major prizes have come from the Nielsen, Wieniawski, Michael Hill, and Paganini competitions.
As a teacher, Luke gives frequent masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was recently selected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for his significant contributions to the music profession. He currently plays on a rare violin made by Francesco Gobetti, circa 1710.