Yi Zhao

Yi Zhao, Assistant Concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, was born in Henan, China. At age 12, she was selected as one of China’s bests and entered the prestigious preparatory school program at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. From there on, she has studied with Zhou Qian and received her Bachelor’s of Music at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore in 2007 and finished her Master’s study under Cho-Liang Lin at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University in May 2013. While at school she had already been preparing to become a versatile musician and a leader, as she served as the concertmaster of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra especially on its Carnegie Hall debut in February 2014.

Ms. Zhao also performed as a soloist after winning the concerto competitions at both of her universities. In 2011 she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto in Singapore and in 2013 performed the Korngold Violin Concerto in Houston. In addition to her studies, Ms. Zhao participated at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Music Academy of the West in the summers and has worked with other renowned pedagogues such as Pamela Frank, Emmanuel Ax, Glenn Dicterow, Jorja Fleezanis, Peter Salaff, and Kathleen Winkler. She has been invited to the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Grand Teton, Wyoming since 2017.

She is also an active chamber musician, and her experience ranges from performing with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carerras at the Sun Festival in Singapore to concert series at Carnegie Hall with Michael Kannen. In 2014 Ms. Zhao and her colleagues Coleman Itzkoff and Andrew Staupe formed the Pegasus Trio, and the group was subsequently invited to the La Jolla Music Festival that summer as fellowship artists. Throughout her chamber music career, she has shared the stage with many acclaimed artists such as Cho-Liang Lin, Yefim Bronfman, Inon Barnatan, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Alex Kerr, Jon Kimura Parker, Desmond Hoebig, Richard O’Neill, Leonard Slatkin, Da Xun Zhang and the Miró Quartet.

Ms. Zhao truly excels in orchestral leadership along with her solo and chamber music expertise in the professional arena. In the fall of 2013, she won the Assistant Concertmaster position in the Colorado Symphony and became a tenured member in 2016. She has been actively participating in the Denver community as a soloist as well as a chamber musician ever since. Ms. Zhao has appeared in the Englewood Concert Series performing various chamber works and also as a soloist with the Colorado Symphony, Lakewood Symphony Orchestra and more.

Learning an instrument such as the violin has its challenges. Whatever the level of your playing, there are many ways to develop your ability to understand the music and express yourself on the instrument. I always encourage my students to interact more by singing with me, playing with me, and to always ask questions or express any struggles they've been experiencing in their practice. I have taught students that are beginners, intermidiate and even professionals for many years. I helped them to become more sensitive and imaginative about their approach to music, improve their techniques, understand the purpose of practicing, and how to make it fun. Because I am competitively trained violinist and currently holding a title chair position in a profeesional symphony orchestra, I will give my students the most accurate infomation and carreer advice.