The start of a global career

The content on this page was translated automatically.

Leonard Fu, former young student at the HfMT Hamburg as part of the Andreas Franke Academy in the violin class of Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender from 2009-2015, has been selected as the new second violinist of the world-famous Juilliard String Quartet and at the same time will become professor of violin at the Juilliard School of Music, Dance and Drama in New York at the age of only 28.

Leonard Fu on his career leap:
"The Juilliard String Quartet has had a lasting impact on my musical path - from my studies in Germany with Tanja Becker-Bender, who often recounted her student days with JSQ founder Robert Mann and shared the quartet's values, to studying with Ron Copes, Roger Tapping and Joel Krosnick in the US. It is an incredible honor to carry on their legacy. The quartet's dedication to the full range of string repertoire touches me deeply, and I am truly grateful and excited to embark on this journey with Areta, Molly and Astrid!"

As part of a new collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon's STAGE+ platform, the Juilliard String Quartet plans to live stream each chapter of "Letters to Ludwig" to offer global audiences an immersive experience of this evolving artistic journey. The first chapter was streamed live in January 2025 and is now archived on the platform and available for on-demand viewing.

Vita
In his early years, Leonard Fu was a junior student at the music academies in Hanover and Hamburg, where he studied with Ina Kertscher, Lara Lev and Tanja Becker-Bender. He was also influenced by Shmuel Ashkenasi, Robert Levin, Andreas Röhn, Krzysztof Wegrzyn and Pierre Amoyal. In May 2023 he completed his Artist Diploma studies at the Juilliard School in New York in the classes of Donald Weilerstein and Catherine Cho.

Leonard Fu performs as a soloist and chamber musician all over the world, including in Europe, Russia, China and the USA, and has already played in renowned halls such as the Laeiszhalle, the Elbphilharmonie, the Mariinsky Theater and Jordan Hall. As a soloist, he has performed with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and the Hessischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has worked with conductors such as Andrew Manze, Alexander Shelley, Marc Niemann and Elias Grandy.

Due to his great passion for chamber music, he has been invited to renowned music festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Yellow Barn and Perlman Music Program and has performed with Mitsuko Uchida, Jörg Widmann, Jens-Peter Maintz, Amihai Grosz, Janine Jansen, Gregor Horsch, Hsin-Yun Huang, Tanja Becker-Bender, Peter Wiley, Thomas Riebl, Laurence Lesser, Kim Kashkashian, as well as Donald and Vivian Weilerstein, among others.

He has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Andrea Postacchini, Rodolfo Lipizer, Tonali and Joseph Joachim competitions. In 2020 he won the Ton und Erklärung Violin Competition in Frankfurt, in 2022 he was 1st prize winner of the International Schadt String Competition in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA.