Violinist Simon Zhu made his North American debut in metro Atlanta this week. Winner of Italy's prestigious Premio Paganini competition, he performed with the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra at Byers Theatre in North Metro Atlanta.
Zhu's appearance marks his first performance in North America, according to CBS News Atlanta, which also reported that he plans to share his music with Atlanta, Sandy Springs and Georgia.
The violin's arrival in the region builds on a résumé that already includes some of classical music's most closely guarded instruments. In October 2023, Zhu won First Prize at the 57th International Violin Competition Premio Paganini in Genoa, Italy, a victory that came with a €30,000 cash prize and the competition's special prize for best Paganini concerto performance, according to Pizzicato. That win also earned him the rare privilege of playing Paganini's own 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin, nicknamed Il Cannone, which is normally kept under tight security in Genoa and seldom leaves the city. Per the Cartagena Music Festival, that privilege culminated in an October 2024 performance at London's Guildhall before King Charles III.
From Munich Training Rooms to the Richmond Stage
Born in Germany in 2001, Zhu started studying violin at age six. He now trains in Munich under Professor Ana Chumachenco and Ingolf Turban, with additional artistic mentorship from acclaimed violinist Ning Feng, according to concert materials published by the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. His accolades in the United States predate the Paganini win: at the 2021 Menuhin Competition in Richmond, Virginia, often nicknamed the Olympics of the Violin, Zhu earned Second Prize, the Mozart Prize and the European Community EMCY Award, according to the Menuhin Competition.
In Sandy Springs, Zhu performed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, a work widely regarded as one of the most demanding and celebrated pieces in the classical repertoire. Zhu told CBS News Atlanta the Tchaikovsky concerto is probably the most performed violin concerto in classical music.
A 20th Season Built Around Growth
The concert doubled as a milestone for the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, which is marking two decades of performing for the community during its 20th anniversary season. Incorporated in April 2007 by founding music director J. Wayne Baughman, the orchestra operates as metro Atlanta's only fully professional, part-time symphonic orchestra, according to the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. The organization titled this anniversary season BECOMING, with programming designed to parallel the growth of the city of Johns Creek while expanding the orchestra's regional reach into neighboring Sandy Springs.
That expansion brought the orchestra to Byers Theatre at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2018 as part of the $229.2 million City Springs complex. The venue's main auditorium spans 50,000 square feet and seats 1,070 patrons across three tiers, according to ArtsATL.
Music Director Henry Cheng's Genre-Crossing Program
Music Director Henry Cheng, who took the podium in September 2025 after a yearlong international search that drew 106 applicants, curated an expansive, genre-crossing program for the evening, per CBS News Atlanta's reporting. Henry Chang said the program was chosen to demystify orchestral music and connect with listeners. That search concluded with three finalists each conducting a subscription concert during the orchestra's 18th season, according to EarRelevant.
The concert opened not with a classical warhorse but with Christopher Tin's Sogno di Volare, or The Dream of Flight — a piece originally composed in 2016 as the main theme for the video game Civilization VI, adapting Leonardo da Vinci's writings on aviation into a choral-orchestral anthem. Cheng said the program would begin with the Tin piece featuring a 100-person choir built around the dream of flight. That choir came from the Michael O'Neal Singers, a symphonic chorus of more than 150 auditioned singers that includes a 36-member Kaleidoscope ensemble, continuing a collaborative partnership with the orchestra that dates back to its founding season.
The program also featured Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, which Cheng said represents rebirth through trials and fires — a thematic echo of the orchestra's own anniversary narrative. The evening reflected the orchestra's broader mission to engage the community, which includes offering free admission to students up to age 21 with a valid student ID.
