Kenneth Renshaw, Biography
With playing hailed as "Positively ravishing, a marvel of emotional maturity and assurance" (San Francisco Classical Voice) and praised for its “true chamber music-making, and a natural, honest sense of communication" (The Strad), NY-based violinist Kenneth Renshaw is a performer known for his emotional depth and intensity and pedagogue who focuses on the individual needs of each student.
Kenneth came to international attention in 2012 after winning First Prize and the Prize for Best Semifinal Recital at the 2012 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. He also won First Prize and several special prizes in the 2010 Louis Spohr International Competition, First Prize at the 2009 Los Angeles Philharmonic competition, and was a Laureate of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition of Belgium in 2015.
As a result of these successes, he has been a featured soloist with orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar, and the Jenaer Philharmonie, and has performed recitals at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Flagey Studios (Brussels), the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany.
As a chamber musician he has made festival appearances at Caramoor, Ravinia, and the Perlman Music Program, performing with renowned musicians such as Itzhak Perlman, Leon Fleischer, Sir James Galway, Pamela Frank, and Kim Kashkashian. He has also participated in performances through Music for Food, a musician-led initiative founded by Kim Kashkashian for hunger-relief in major cities across the United States.
Increasingly active as a teacher, Kenneth serves as Teaching Assistant to both Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at The Juilliard School, where he holds the Starling Foundation Violin Teaching Fellowship.
Kenneth was recently named Artistic Director and Faculty of the Perlman-Genesis Violin program in Israel, under the auspices of the Israel Conservatory in Tel Aviv. He also serves as chamber music faculty for the Perlman Music Program's Summer Music School and Sarasota Winter Residency, and violin faculty for the program's Israel Residency. He has been a guest masterclass artist at music institutions in Sao Paulo Brazil and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Interested in finding new ways to communicate with modern audiences through multiple artistic mediums and technology, Kenneth serves as Artistic Advisor for Yang Bao Studios, a performance space in Lake Champlain VT featuring instrumental music, dance, film, and electronic music.
Kenneth was a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he holds both Master's and Bachelor's degrees. His teachers include Itzhak Perlman, Li Lin, Donald Weilerstein, Ian Swensen, and Lynn Oakley.
