2024 Radda Rise International String Competition
Fei Tong
Second Prize
•Violin and Viola Division of Category 4
Violinist Fei Tong enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, and scholar, with performances spanning Asia, North America, and Europe. She has appeared as a soloist with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra, the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and the ARCO Chamber Orchestra. Tong has also performed at renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Royal Albert Hall, and Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts. In 2015, she was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China to perform for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to China.
Throughout her career, Tong has earned recognition at several competitions, including First Prize at the University of Georgia’s Concerto Competition, where she performed Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor with conductor Jean Gómez. She has also received top prizes at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition, the North International Music Competition, and the Concert Artists International Virtuoso Competition. Her summer festival appearances include the Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Musica Mundi Chamber Festival, and the Ascent International Chamber Music Festival. Tong has held concertmaster positions with the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and the InterHarmony Festival Orchestra.
In addition to her solo work, Tong is an accomplished orchestral and chamber musician. She has served as concertmaster for the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and the InterHarmony Festival Orchestra. Her collaborations have included performances with renowned artists such as Andrés Cárdenes, Milan Milisavljević, Rafael Figueroa, and members of Time for Three.
As a pedagogue, she is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) through MTNA. In recent years, her students have been named prize winners at the New York Golden Classical Music Awards Competition, the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition, the Zhongsin International Music Competition, and the National Youth Violin Concerto Competition. Currently, Tong is a senior visiting scholar at the Eastman School of Music as a recipient of the Chinese National Award Scholarship, working under the mentorship of Mikhail Kopelman. She also serves as a lecturer in violin at Ludong University in Shandong, where she continues to balance teaching and performing.
Tong earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance from the University of Georgia, where she studied with Levon Ambartsumian and held a teaching assistantship. For her academic excellence, she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, a national music honor society. Prior to this, she graduated from the China Conservatory of Music, studying with Hui Jin and Yang Wu, the concertmaster of the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Throughout her development, she participated in masterclasses with renowned violinists, including Ivry Gitlis, Boris Kuschnir, Ilya Kaler, Paul Roczek, Andrés Cárdenes, Guy Braunstein, Robert Chen, and Bin Huang.