Internationally acclaimed violinist Dan Zhu, known for the rare balance of technical command and poetic sensibility he brings to his playing, is all set to return to India later this month. ON Stage talks to the Beijing-born, New York-based musician ahead of his recital and concerto performances with the SOI Chamber Orchestra.

By Beverly Pereira

Praised as “an artiste of affecting humility and beautiful tone production” by The Strad magazine, violinist Dan Zhu is regarded as one of the leading violinists of our times. Zhu made his first public appearance at age nine, performing Mendelssohn’s violin concerto with the China Youth Chamber Orchestra. He would go on to make his Carnegie Hall debut at 18, signalling the start of his international career. The Beijing-born violinist has performed widely with world-class orchestras and conductors including Christoph Eschenbach and Zubin Mehta, and at major events including Tanglewood, Salzburg and Verbier festivals. An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with acclaimed artistes across the world and has premiered works by contemporary composers like Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, among others. His discography spans international labels like Naxos and Universal. Beyond the stage, he has given masterclasses at esteemed institutions and was appointed violin professor at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia last year. Based in New York, Zhu is known for his environmental activism and notably became the first violinist to perform in Antarctica during an expedition in 2013.

Zhu is no stranger to India. He played his first concert in Mumbai in 2012 and returned to perform with the Symphony Orchestra of India during its Autumn 2017 Season. “The SOI is world-class. The musicians are cooperative, have a strong sense of collaboration and musicality, and are quick to adapt to different styles of music and artistes they work with,” he had said of his experience. This time, as part of a collaboration between the NCPA and Mehli Mehta Music Foundation, he returns to give a violin recital and a concert with the SOI Chamber Orchestra.

Excerpts from a conversation with Dan Zhu:

ON Stage: What is your earliest memory of hearing the violin?
Dan Zhu: I think it was when I was two years old. My father always played recordings of classical music, and I remember the time when I was dancing to the beautiful sound of the solo violin from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

OS: What was your training like prior to your first public appearance at the age of nine?
DZ: My father, who played the instrument in his free time, gave me my first violin. I started to learn violin, when I was four, in my hometown of Beijing with professors from the Central Conservatory of Music. I was learning solo and chamber music repertoire from both Western classical and arrangements from Chinese traditional music.

OS: Which composers influenced you most in your early years?
DZ: It’s Mozart for me. The first concerto I performed as a soloist was Mozart’s Concerto No. 4 in D major. But before that, I always enjoyed listening to Mozart’s operas and used to play the arrangements from his famous arias and popular pieces like ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ for string ensemble. At the same time, I learned many other works by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and other classical greats. I was always interested in music from different eras and styles, not just violin music. But Mozart’s music always felt very close to my heart, like it spoke to me in a personal way. It almost feels like it was written for children. Of course, Mozart can be so sophisticated with great depth when you’re all grown up and is perhaps one of the most challenging composers to play. But at the same time, from a young age I found that his music was just so pure and fluent. It’s such a great quality of Mozart’s music that when I started playing professionally, I tried to keep that quality going strong.

OS: Was there a moment when you understood the level of discipline this path would demand?
DZ: I never enjoyed the practice so much when I was very young. I loved music and playing the violin, of course. But before I turned nine years or so, I would, at the most, practise for one or two hours a day. I wasn’t like those children who’d practise the whole day. I was interested in many other things then. It was only after my [aforementioned] first public concert that I realised the importance of practising. I had a clearer idea about the ways I wanted to improve and integrate certain qualities into my playing. I wanted to learn more repertoire and began to get motivated to be disciplined with my practice.

OS: Please tell us about the violinists of the past you feel most connected to artistically.
DZ: I’ve always been a fan of violinists from the first half of the 20th century, the golden age of violin playing. For me, it’s Belgian violinist Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe and Russian-American violinist Nathan Milstein. Of course, they come from different eras, but truly represent the voice of the violin.

OS: How do you tap into emotion while also staying true to technique?
DZ: Technique and emotion go hand in hand. I never practise technique without thinking musically. All techniques must serve musical expression and ideas. It must be worked together with emotion to make sense. I always remind my students to practise with their mind and play with their heart. You can never separate technique and emotion because on a concert stage, you must be able to manage them both. You always find true freedom in playing in the most disciplined manner. We grew up with a focus on learning from scores, but neglect the core of the music, which is listening to our intuitive senses, ears and heart. The instrument is simply the medium, but the essence really comes through when there is freedom in your playing.

OS: Tell us about how you stay in touch with your instrument on a regular basis.
DZ: It’s more than just practice these days; practice is my daily ritual. To me, the process of practising is a never-ending search in the vastness of the music universe. I enjoy this process as much as I enjoy performing on stage, if not more sometimes. I like to warm up with Bach; it’s like a meditation for me. His music is the best way to free my mind and get into the spirit of playing. I try to avoid the same routine every day to keep the energy and inspiration fresh. Practice is never a repetitive pattern even when I practice the same repertoire. The music of classical greats demands us to get more insight into the spirit; it pushes you into the deepest layers of the music. Each day is different as we are ourselves changing mentally, physically and emotionally. I aim for my practice to keep me flexible and to be able to adapt to the moment.

OS: How has your cultural background influenced your musical voice?
DZ: In China, we have great traditional folk music from different regions. In India, too, you have an incredible tradition of classical music. I grew up listening to the late Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain. It’s always interesting to travel to various countries, including India. Growing up, my parents were interested in different kinds of music. I remember my father being passionate about Western classical music, especially the violin, piano, symphonies and operas. I have listened to a lot of different repertoire since I was a child. My mum was an amateur Peking opera singer who loved traditional Chinese operas. I heard the best of both worlds growing up, enriching sensitivity in a multidimensional way. They may be different in terms of style, harmony, structure and tonality. Yet, when it comes down to the emotional sense, they speak in unison regardless of their origins. That’s what I call the voice of humanity and the universe at large. That’s what connects all human beings.

OS: We would love to know more about your upcoming performances at the NCPA this month.
DZ: The first is a duo recital for violin and piano with my dear friend and brilliant pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuburger in which we will play Bach’s Sonata in E major, which is one among the six sonatas he wrote for both instruments. I love to start a programme with Bach. We’ll move on to Schubert’s Fantasie in C major, one of the most demanding pieces in the duo repertoire. We will conclude the programme with Sonata in E minor by Busoni, the great composer and pianist from the Romantic period whose music was influenced by Bach. This sonata is rarely played compared to sonatas by Brahms, Franck, Schumann and Strauss, but for me, it’s a masterpiece, another duo concertante, almost like a symphony for the two instruments.

In the second concert, I’ll be leading the orchestra and playing solo violin with the SOI Chamber Orchestra in a programme titled ‘Eight Seasons’. As you know, there’s Vivaldi’s famous The Four Seasons. But we’ll also play Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which was the Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player’s response to Vivaldi’s classic. Later, Piazzolla’s tango quintet was transcribed and arranged for violin and chamber orchestra by Leonid Desyatnikov in the same format as Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Interestingly, here, Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’ corresponds to Piazzolla’s ‘Autumn’ just like the northern and southern hemispheres experience opposite seasons. It perfectly corresponds to Vivaldi’s work in the best sense of a crossover across three centuries and two hemispheres of our planet.

OS: What does 2026 look like
DZ: Among the many beautiful music projects to look forward to, one of the main will be celebrating the 270th anniversary year of Mozart. I’ll be touring with his five violin concerti with different orchestras in North America, China and Europe. I’ll also be performing the complete ten sonatas for violin and piano by Beethoven as a tribute to his bicentenary in 2027. In May, I’ll return to the heart of the renaissance— to Florence for my annual festival Etruscan Bloom, an intimate chamber music festival that I had founded in 2020. One of the main venues is the historic 15th century Palazzo Tornabuoni.

This article was originally published in the March 2026 issue of ON Stage.