kenneth renshaw
violin
With playing hailed as “gorgeous, finely detailed…positively ravishing, a marvel of emotional maturity and assurance” (San Francisco Classical Voice ), and praised for his “true chamber music making, and a natural, honest sense of communication” (The Strad Magazine), American violinist Kenneth Renshaw has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout the world, including the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the China Philharmonic, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the California Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, and the Orquestra de Festival Ushuaia. He has performed at major European recital venues – the Auditorium du Louvre, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele among others – and has repeatedly been featured on the national radio stations of the United States (NPR), Germany (Mittledeutscher Rundfunk), Belgium, Argentina, and Lithuania.
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Kenneth won First Prize and the EMCY Prize for Best Semifinal Recital at the 2012 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing. He also won First Prize, the Mozart Concerto Prize, and the Sonata Prize at the 2010 Louis Spohr International Violin Competition in Germany, First Prize at the 2009 Los Angeles Philharmonic competition, and was a Laureate of the 2015 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition of Belgium.
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As a passionate chamber musician Kenneth has collaborated in performances with many esteemed artists, including renowned pianist Leon Fleisher, violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, cellists Matt Haimovitz, Peter Wiley and Ralph Kirshbaum, violists Kim Kashkashian and Atar Arad, and flutist Sir James Galway. He was a member of the Soleil Piano Trio from 2008-2010, First Prize winners of the Mondavi Center for the Arts Chamber Music Competition. Kenneth was an Evnin Rising Star at the Caramoor Festival in New York, and was a featured performer at the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute, the Perlman Music Program’s Residencies in Florida and Vermont, and Music@Menlo’s International Chamber Music Institute.
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Kenneth was Concertmaster of the internationally-acclaimed San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2008-2010; he made his solo debut in Davies Symphony Hall as winner of the orchestra's concerto competition in 2010. He has studied with Donald Weilertstein at the New England Conservatory, Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program, and Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is currently studying at the Juilliard School with Mr. Perlman and Mr. Lin as recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He currently performs on a 1774 G.B. Guadagnini on generous loan from the Juilliard School/Tarisio collection, and a G. Lucchi bow on loan from the Maestro Foundation of Southern California. He is the proud owner of a violin by esteemed American maker Ryan Soltis.