Violin magic: new signing Ziyu He

Chinese-Austrian violinist Ziyu He was born in the famous beer city of Qingdao, China in 1999. He started learning the violin at the age of five and following a meeting with Professor Paul Roczek in 2010 he was invited to study at the University Mozarteum and has, for the last seven years, been living and studying in Salzburg.

He grew up in a music-loving family, and knew he wanted to play the violin when he heard the Wiener Philharmoniker for the first time: “I just thought that the violin has a really magic sound; very unique, very beautiful.” Fast-forward to today, and he’s one of the youngest soloists to have made his debut with that very orchestra, with conductor Ádám Fischer in 2017.

Over the past few years, Ziyu has won several prestigious competitions: the Eurovision Young Musician in Cologne (2014), and the 12th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and Menuhin Competition in London (both in 2016). As well as first prize at the Menuhin Competition, he received the Composer Award (for the best performance of the Roxanna Panufnik’s competition commission, Hora Bessarabia), the Mozart prize and the Bach prize.

He is of course thrilled to have won these competitions, and for the opportunities that they have afforded him, but stresses that winning was not the only element for him. “The most important thing is not just to win, it’s to enjoy the music, and to get that experience of standing on the stage and performing to the audience.”

This theme comes up several times during our conversation, and it’s clear that Ziyu feels strongly that music should be enjoyed. “It’s about passion and joy, and having fun with it,” though continues to say that nothing can take the place of persistence, which he explains as “being happy in your work, but also being hungry for more progress and knowledge.”

Still only 19, Ziyu is about to embark on his master’s degree at Mozarteum University Salzburg (whose notable alumni include Barbara Bonney, Angelika Kirchschlager, Herbert von Karajan, Christiane Karg, Igor Levit, Nils Mönkemeyer, Thomas Zehetmair and Tabea Zimmermann), where he also studies conducting and the viola. Yet there’s no struggle to balance his studies against his already busy performing schedule; “I think I need both,” he says, “and to perform on the stage is kind of studying – you can learn a lot.”

And if he weren’t a violinist? “I’d love to be a conductor… but maybe also a stone collector” he laughs, “I like digging and to collect fossils.”

This is an edited version of a longer video interview. Watch the full interview at askonasholt.co.uk or on YouTube.