Biography
Laureate of the prestigious 2015 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, rising Taiwanese violinist William Wei is quickly building an international career as a soloist. Of his performance of the Shostakovich Violin Concerto with conductor Marin Alsop and the National Orchestra of Belgium, Le Soir wrote that William “gets everyone’s attention in the first movement; he expresses all the possibilities in the second movement; [and he] burns all his passion and freedom in the music till the end.” Radio Télévision Belge Francophone simply called his playing “superb”.
William’s recent highlights have included concert series stepping in for violinist Shlomo Mintz in Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major with Eliahu Inbal. National Symohony Orchestra with Nai-Yuan Hu and Ray Chen, and Baden-Baden Philharmonic with Pavel Baleff.
A winner of the Salon de Virtuosi’s 2018 Career Grant, William has been invited twice by renowned New York Times music critic Robert Sherman to perform on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase. He performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with conductor, Jahja Ling and the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall as a winner of the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition in 2013.
Following his recital debut in Taiwan, William has appeared as soloist on multiple occasions, performing with such orchestras as the Belgium National Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Sejong Soloists, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic, Boston Longwood Symphony, and Mainzer Virtuosi. He has appeared as soloist at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Concert Hall, Jordan Hall, the Henry le Boeuf Hall in Belgium, Gasteig Concert Hall in Munich, Seoul Arts Center, Cremona Stradivari Museum (Museo del Violino), and Taiwan National Concert Hall, and has been invited to perform at several festivals, including the 4string festival in New Jersey, Incheon Music Festival in Korea, Green Mountain Music Festival in Vermont, and the Casalmaggiore Music Festival in Italy. William has performed with such renowned musicians as Eliahu Inbal, Gil Shaham, Ray Chen, Marin Alsop, Nai Yuan Hu, Cho Liang Lin, Peiyao Wang, Orion Weiss, Marc Danel, Sung-Won Yang, Brian Suits, and Ronald Feldman.
Born in Taiwan, William began his violin studies at the age of five. He is a proud recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Scholarship at the Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree under Hyo Kang. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin under Kolja Blacher, former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic. William plays on a 1761 Tomasso Balestrieri loaned from the Chimei Foundation in Taiwan.
Timeline
Today
William’s recent highlights
- concert series stepping in for violinist Shlomo Mintz in Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major with Eliahu Inbal.
- National Symohony Orchestra with Nai-Yuan Hu and Ray Chen,
- Baden-Baden Philharmonic with Pavel Baleff.