The Stauffer Academy is proud to welcome the victory of two of its students in the 57th edition of the International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini”. Simon Zhu, winner of the 1st Prize, and Jinzghi Zhang, winner of the 2nd Prize, have studied at the Stauffer Academy under the guidance of Maestro Salvatore Accardo. Jinzghi Zhang also attends the string quartet class held by the Quartetto di Cremona, as the First Violin of the Goldberg Quartet.
In the finals of the competition, the young instrumentalists performed the concertos of Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, respectively, thus presenting “a very difficult program” and demonstrating “remarkable resistance” (Salvatore Accardo).
“The Stauffer Academy helped me a lot in my career and had a great impact on my artistic growth. Maestro Accardo is one of the greatest musicians of our time, a living legend. His advice left an indelible imprint on me: he taught me how to make music come alive,” says Simon Zhu.
Jinzghi Zhang comments: “The Stauffer Academy and my lessons with Maestro Accardo gave me the fundamentals of the Italian violin school, especially from the point of view of musicality and legato. I am fortunate to study not only in the violin class but also in the quartet class, thanks to which I am living a precious experience in chamber music. Thanks to my colleagues and friends in the Goldberg Quartet, I never felt alone. Without them, Maestro Accardo, and Stauffer, I would hardly have gained the self-confidence that enabled me to reach this beautiful goal.”