The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis presents

Luke Hsu, violin, with Mélanie Laurent, harp
and the Ronen Chamber Ensemble
in
“French Soundscapes”

July 6, 2022 | 7:30 P.M.
Basile Theater
Indiana History Center
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Tickets $10 - $30

Luke Hsu, violin

Award-winning violinist and Bronze Medalist of the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Luke Hsu is hailed as “in a class by himself with total command of the instrument” by the Montréal Gazette. As a soloist and recitalist, Luke has appeared at Wigmore Hall, St. John's Smith Square, Windsor Castle, Kennedy Center, Herkulessaal, Jordan Hall and Teatro Carlo Felice, among many others. Additionally, he has performed with numerous orchestras around the world, including the Orchestre National de la Belgique, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova Orchestra, the Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Auckland and Odense symphony orchestras, Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra, and the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra.

He has worked closely with eminent conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Nikolaj Znaider, Pascal Vierrot, Hugh Wolff, Marek Pijarowski, Jean-Jacques Kantarow, and Cristian Măcelaru. His performance with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra was recorded and broadcasted on NPR’s Performance Today, and other performances have been broadcast on Canada’s CBC and Denmark’s DR. He has played for royalty around the world including His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex Prince Edward and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.

Luke has won prizes at many of the most prestigious violin competitions in the world, including the Paganini, Wieniawski, Isang Yun, Nielsen and Queen Elisabeth competitions. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with luminaries such as Itamar Golan, Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Marc-André Hamelin, Peter Frankl, Colin Carr, and musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. His festival appearances include Pablo Casals Festival, Verbier, La Jolla SummerFest, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Music@Menlo, YellowBarn, San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Tongyeong International Music Festival. He is currently Artistic Advisor for Music at the K&M Festival in Stavanger, Norway.

As a composer, Luke has written numerous chamber works, including a duo written specifically for the Weilerstein Duo. Lutosławski and Webern are his biggest influences, and he hopes to write music that carries this tradition forward into the 21st century.

Luke started his violin studies in Houston with Fredell Lack and Emanuel Borok, and debuted with the Houston Symphony at age 16. He studied with Cho-Liang Lin at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, and Rodney Friend at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He graduated from all these institutions with numerous honors and prizes. Other teachers and close mentors include Vivian Hornik-Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian, and Lucy Chapman. He currently studies with Pierre Amoyal at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Luke is a VC (Violin Channel) Young Artist.

Mélanie Laurent, harp

French harpist Mélanie Laurent is the Gold Medal Winner of the 2019 11th USA International Harp Competition. She is also the winner of the Bellan International Competition (2017).

Mélanie was born into a family of professional musicians. She studied with Isabelle Moretti at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, graduating with highest honors in 2020. She now pursues a thriving multidisciplinary career; she enjoys teaching, performing solo concerts, and working with many orchestras. These include the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, and in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra Bastille, Opéra Garnier, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

As a soloist, she has been invited to prestigious festivals around the world. She has played solo recitals and concertos at the Mito Settembre Musica festival, at the Lago Maggiore festival, at Piano Pic festival, at l’Instrumentarium Paris, among others. During summer 2021, she toured with the renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon. Recently she performed Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with Joséphine Poncelin and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Debussy’s Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane with the Ensemble K at Dubai Opera (United Arab Emirates). Her performance with Ensemble K was broadcast on the global Mezzo TV channel.

Her sensitivity and her “golden touch,” hailed by the Harp Column Magazine, allowed her to win the support of the Banque Populaire Foundation. She is also supported by the Fonds de Tarrazi, the Meyer Foundation, and the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.