Soloist Katherine Zhu

Katherine Zhu is a 16-year-old junior at Del Norte High School in San Diego. She began playing the violin at the age of four and currently studies with Samuel Fischer at the Colburn School and Hernan Constantino at the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Katherine won 1st place in the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) 2016 State VOCE Competition and performed at its State Convention in July 2016. She is also the 1st place winner of 2017 Helen B. Goodlin Scholarship Competition. As soloist, Katherine has performed with the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra (MMYO) at San Diego Makes Music 2017, the Youth Orchestra of the Californias at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for Balboa Park’s Centennial Celebration in 2015, and the Greater San Diego Chamber Orchestra as the 1st place winner of the San Diego MTAC Concerto Competition in 2014. In March 2017, Katherine performed with Anne Akiko Meyers and the Colburn Chamber Orchestra at Taste of Colburn, the Colburn Community School’s annual largest fundraiser.

Katherine is also an active orchestral and chamber musician. She is currently concertmaster of the MMYO Advanced Orchestra and first violinist of the Equinox String Quartet. Katherine has also been concertmaster of NYO2 of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA in both its 2016 inaugural season and 2017.

Katherine has participated in Side-by-Side concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, and the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra. She has also had masterclasses with many renowned artists, including William Preucil, Emanuel Borok, Almita Vamos, Ray Chen, and Augustin Hadelich.