Born and raised in San Francisco, violinist Kenneth Renshaw came to international attention in 2012 after winning First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing. He was also a prize winner in the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition of Belgium, and First Prize recipient of the inaugural Manhattan International Concert Artists Competition. 

 

He has since performed extensively throughout many countries, both as soloist with orchestras including the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the Jenaer Philharmonie and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and recitals at notable venues such as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany, and the Menuhin Festival Gstaad. 

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He has collaborated as a chamber musician with many esteemed artists including pianist Leon Fleisher, violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pamela Frank and Cho-Liang-Lin, and violist Kim Kashkashian at festivals such as Caramoor, Marlboro, Ravinia's Steans Institute, and Music@Menlo. 

 

Increasingly passionate about teaching, Kenneth currently serves as Teaching Assistant to violinist Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at the Juilliard School. His students have won prizes in the Yehudi Menuhin, Leonid Kogan, and Louis Spohr International Competitions and have been admitted to notable schools, chamber music festivals, and other programs. 

 

Kenneth served as chamber music faculty at the Perlman Music Program's Summer Music School and Sarasota Winter Residency, and the Crowden Music Center's Chamber Music Workshop.

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He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin as recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Other important teachers and mentors include founding Cleveland Quartet violinist Donald Weilerstein, Ian Swensen, and Lynn Oakley. 

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During the pandemic, Kenneth discovered his interest in pre-60s jazz, joining Sausilito-based jazz band The Hot Clams as a guest artist for outdoor socially-distanced water concerts in the San Francisco Bay. He continues to perform with them to this day.