Violin
Adventure, artistry, and collaboration define the career of violinist Dr. Sharon Gayoung Cho, whose performances span the world’s foremost concert halls, celebrated festivals, and collaborations with many of today’s most respected musicians.
Praised for her expressive musicianship and commanding stage presence, Dr. Cho has appeared as guest concertmaster with the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra and as a featured soloist with The Discovery Orchestra. Recent seasons have brought solo appearances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, and the Presidential Palace in Vienna, along with chamber performances at Alice Tully Hall, Sprague Hall, Woolsey Hall, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Zimmerli Art Museum. She has led from the concertmaster chair of the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, and Vienna’s Anton von Webern Orchestra.
Her artistry has been recognized with First Prize – Rutgers Concerto Competition (broadcast on WWFM), First Prize – New York Artists International Competition, Grand and First Prize – Vivo International Music Competition, Second Prize – Premio Città di Padova International Competition (Italy), and Second Prize with the Governor’s Prize – Gavrillin International Competition (Russia). In her native Korea, she earned multiple national titles, including Hanmi, Yejin, Youngnam, and Hangookilbo competitions.
Dr. Cho earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University, Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, and Postgraduate Certificate, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna—entering at age 15 as the youngest in her class. All of her undergraduate, master’s, postgraduate, Yale, and doctoral studies were awarded with full scholarship. She also holds a Pre-College Diploma from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien and began her formal training at Yewon Arts Middle School in Seoul.
Her artistic lineage includes principal teachers Dora Schwarzberg, Ani Kavafian, and Todd Phillips, and chamber music mentors such as the Tokyo Quartet, Peter Frankl, Alan Stepansky, and the Artis Quartet. She has also worked closely in masterclasses with Midori Goto, Cho-Liang Lin, Peter Winograd, Donald Weilerstein, Boris Garlitsky, Pavel Vernikov, Eugene Drucker, Steve Tenenbom, Koichiro Harada, Taras Gabora, and members of the Hagen and Keller Quartets.
An in-demand educator, Dr. Cho serves on the violin faculty at the Summit Music Festival and Rutgers Community Arts – Mason Gross School of the Arts, with previous appointments at Rutgers University and the Yale School of Music. She is a sought-after adjudicator, most recently serving as a judge for the NJMTA Spring Recital Audition. Festival appearances include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (USA), Mendelssohn Summer School (Hamburg), Internationale Konzert-Arbeits-Wochen (Goslar), International Summer Music School (Croatia), Accademia di Musica d’Estate (Italy), Cuarto Curso Internacional (Spain), and Accentus Musical Festival (Slovenia)—reflecting a career devoted to artistry, cultural exchange, and inspiring the next generation of musicians.