Acclaimed for his exceptional talent and radiant tone, violinist Chad Hoopes has performed with many of the world’s top orchestras since winning First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition.

A 2017 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Hoopes joins the ranks of previous winners including Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn. His career highlights include performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, National Symphony, and San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Houston Symphonies. He premiered Qigang Chen’s La joie de la souffrance with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and is a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Hoopes’s debut recording of the Mendelssohn and Adams violin concertos with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, led by Kristjan Järvi, was released on the Naïve label to critical acclaim. His recording of Bernstein’s Violin Sonata with pianist Wayne Marshall will be released in 2024.

He has appeared at leading festivals including Gstaad’s Menuhin Festival, Rheingau Festival, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where he won the Audience Award. His highly praised debut with the Munich Symphony led to his appointment as the orchestra’s first Artist in Residence.

Hoopes began violin studies at age three and trained at the Cleveland Institute of Music under David Cerone and Joel Smirnoff. He continued his studies with Professor Ana Chumachenco at Kronberg Academy, who remains a mentor. Today, he serves as Professor of Practice in Violin at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts.

Chad Hoopes performs on the 1991 ex-Isaac Stern Zygmuntowicz violin and a 1766 G.B. Guadagnini.

Photo Credit: Jiyang Chen