吕思清 SIQING LU

小提琴家 ViolinIST

Siqing Lu: China’s Foremost Violinist

In great demand as concert violinist in his native land China and abroad, Siqing Lu (pronounced See-Ching Lyu) bursted onto the international music stage when he became the first Asian violinist to capture the first prize at the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy in 1987. Long recognized as one of the most outstanding Chinese violinists, Siqing has performed to acclaim in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls in more than forty countries and territories worldwide, including the Musikverein in Vienna, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Southam Hall at National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Maison Symphonique and Place des Arts in Montreal,  Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall in London, Theatre Des Champs Elysees and Louis XIV Opera House at Palace of Versailles in Paris, the Great Hall in Moscow, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre in Melbourne, the Esplanade in Singapore, Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Siqing Lu has collaborated with many of the world’s esteemed musicians, including Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lawrence Foster, Jaap van Zweden, Osmo Vänskä, Bocelli, as well as leading Chinese musicians such as Long Yu, Lang Lang, Jia Lu, Muhai Tang, Shao-Jia Lu, Wen-Bin Jian, Chao-Liang Lin, Yujia Wang, Jian Wang, Yi Zhang, Xincao Li, Yang Yang, the Shanghai Quartet and Oscar award winner composer/conductor Tan Dun, with whom Siqing gave the world premiere of his violin concerto “Hero” in Poland in 2011.

Siqing Lu has performed with some of today’s leading orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Russia National Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the NCPA, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, among others.

Siqing Lu appears regularly at many of the top music festivals and prestigious music events around the world. He is the Artistic Director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts May Festival in Beijing, and is on the Jury of several prestigious international competitions such as the Yehudi Menuhin International Youth Violin Competition and the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition. In fall of 2016, he founded the Siqing Lu Shenzhen Futian International String Festival, of which he is the Artistic Director. In 2012, he formed the China Trio with cellist Li-Wei Qin and pianist Yingdi Sun, the trio quickly became one of the most prominent chamber music ensembles in China. In October of 2016, China Trio was invited as the Artists in Residence by the BASF Festival in Germany and gave the world premiere of Tan Dun’s piano trio “Resurrection”.

Siqing Lu has released more than 20 CDs and video recordings for Philips, Naxos, Marco Polo, and BIS. His five recordings of the “Butterfly Lovers” violin concerto, the most famous work among the Chinese violin repertoire, has sold millions of copies worldwide. His interpretation of this piece is widely considered the best and he has thrilled audiences in more than twenty countries worldwide performing this violin concerto.

Over the past decades, Siqing Lu has received numerous international honors for his outstanding artistic achievement and social contributions, including Honorary Certificate from the United States House of Representatives, New Jersey Outstanding Achievement in Arts Award for Asian, California Senate Honorary Certificate, Honorary Certificate from the California Executive Committee of the House on multiple occasions, the Montblanc Outstanding Artist Award,  China Youth Magazine's “The 100 Most Influential Young People of the 21st Century in China” award, etc. On September 16th of 2006, the City of Millbrae, California passed a legislation to have the date proclaimed as “Siqing Lu Day” in honor of Siqing’s achievements. He has also been invited to perform on numerous occasions at many important events such as the G20 Summit for Heads of State from around the world, including President of China Mr. Xi Jinping, President Obama, President Putin, Prime Minister Theresa May, President Hollande, Prime Minister Merkel, Prime Minister Trudeau, former President Bush and former Prime Minister Blair.

Siqing Lu was born in 1969 in Qingdao, China. He began to study violin at the age of four. As an eight-year-old child, he became the youngest student ever to be admitted by the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as a special talented student and studied with Prof. Zhenshan Wang.  At the age of eleven, the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin chose Siqing to study at his school in London. In 1984, he returned to China for advanced studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Five years later, he went to the Juilliard School and studied with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. In addition to the Paganini First Prize, Siqing Lu was a prize winner in numerous international competitions, including those in Beijing, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Siqing Lu plays on a 1734 ex-Ricci Guarneri del Gesu violin, which is graciously loaned to him by his close friend Mr. J Zhou, a passionate music lover, collector and successful entrepreneur.

GALLERY