His successes are remarkable. In addition to numerous First Prize awards at the Jugend musiziert competition, he won First Prize at the 13th International Georg Philipp Telemann Competition in Poznan, Poland in 2016 with distinction for the best interpretation of a Fantasy for violin solo by Georg Philipp Telemann. In 2016, he also received the Bruno Frey Music Prize awarded by the Bruno Frey Foundation, Ochsenhausen.
In 2017, he was awarded First Prize at the 17th International Violin Competition in Kloster Schöntal, including a special prize for the best interpretation of a virtuoso piece and the Reinhold-Würth-Förderpreis. Recent competition successes include First Prize at the 34th International Violin Competition Valsesia Musica (2018), First Prize at the Zhuhai Mozart Competition (2019) and First Prize at the 7th International Chamber Music Competition Bydgoszcz (2020) with his duo partner, Adam Tomaszewski.
In May 2021, he won Second Prize at the Menuhin Competition in Richmond, Virginia, as well as the Mozart Prize and the European Community EMCY Award for his outstanding performance at the Menuhin Competition.
In October 2023, he won 1st prize at the 2023 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa, Italy, and the special prize for the best Paganini concerto, as well as a number of important concert engagements – including the rare opportunity to perform on Paganini’s own violin “Cannone”. by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1743.
Simon Zhu made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2015 and has since performed there several times as a soloist with orchestra. He was a guest at the International Young Masters Violin Festival on Lake Constance and is a scholarship holder of the Menuhin Festival & Academy. He has given concerts in Germany, England, France, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Korea, and China, performing with renowned orchestras including the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Salzburg Chamber Soloists.
Simon is a scholarship holder at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and takes part in intensive music weeks and activities of the Academy. He has been a scholarship recipient of the German Music Foundation since 2016. He was an academist at the Hope Music Academy 2020 and at the Walter Stauffer Academy Cremona 2020-2022, where he worked with Salvatore Accardo.
He is currently studying at the HMTM Munich with Prof. Ana Chumachenco, as well as receiving guidance from Ning Feng.
In the years 2020-2023, Simon has performed on a fine old Montagnana violin, generously loaned by the Florian Leonhard Fellowship.
Simon now plays an important violin by Zosimo Bergonzi, Cremona around 1760. The instrument is on generous loan from the Stretton Society.
