Participant
Hannah Tam
Violin
Accepted to the preliminary round of the 2026 Naumburg International Violin Competition.
Biography supplied for the 2026 competition.
Acclaimed by The STRAD for her “amazing conviction and variety of tone” and praised by Gramophone for her “heart-warming, gemütlich charm,” violinist Hannah Tam has established herself as a compelling international soloist and chamber musician. Tam has earned top honours at major competitions, as a Finalist and Laureate Prize of Young Concert Artists, Third Prize and Audience Prize at the 2021 Menuhin International Competition (Junior Division), the Audience Prize at Montreal’s 2019 “Mini Violini,” the Memorial Performance Award at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, and First Prize at the Concorso Andrea Postacchini. Her contributions were recognized with a Certificate of Commendation from the Hong Kong SAR Government and a Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship. Since her concerto debut at age ten with the Virtuosi Italiani Chamber Orchestra, Tam has performed as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and Brevard Symphony Orchestra. Her 2025–26 season highlights include performances with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Galveston Symphony, and Hong Kong Premiere Performances Chamber Festival alongside artists Cho-Liang Lin and Stefan Jackiw. Tam has shared the stage with renowned musicians, including Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, and the late Vladimir Mendelssohn, performing in iconic venues such as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and at the La Jolla Music Festival. Admitted to The Curtis Institute of Music at age twelve, she studies under Ida Kavafian and Benjamin Beilman. Tam currently serves as a Baerenreiter Jubilee Ambassador and plays on the 1757 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, "ex-Herten."
Pianists
2026 International Violin Competition
Andrew Hsu
, piano
Andrew Hsu is a pianist, composer, and educator based in New York City. His work encompasses the classical piano repertoire, twentieth-century music, and contemporary experimental composition. He has appeared with the Battle Creek, Lansing, Louisville, and Oakland symphony orchestras, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. His compositions have also been heard internationally, including at Carnegie Hall and Berlin’s Konzerthaus.
Hsu’s festival appearances include Aspen, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Tanglewood. His honors recognize both performance and composition: he received a Gilmore Young Artist Award, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, Aspen’s Hermitage Prize, and BMI’s William Schuman Prize.
A California native, Hsu studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where he completed his doctorate. His principal musical influences include pianists Gary Graffman and Meng-Chieh Liu, composers David Ludwig and Matthias Pintscher, and musician and educator Ford Lallerstedt.