Ning Feng

Ning Feng maintains thriving professional paths both internationally and in China, his country of origin, while also playing a significant role as an educator across those same regions. Born in 1982 in Chengdu as Feng Ning under the conventional Chinese naming order, he began violin studies as a very young child after his father, an avid music lover who had never learned the instrument himself, encouraged the pursuit. A teacher initially discouraged him due to an unusually short little finger, yet his family disregarded that assessment and placed him with Hu Weimin at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Rapid advancement led to further training in London under Hu Kun, Hu Weimin’s son, at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by studies in Berlin with Antje Weithaas at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler,” where Feng has remained based ever since.

Early recognition arrived through competition successes, notably at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in 2000, a first prize at the International Paganini Violin Competition in 2006, and the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover. These achievements opened doors to performances with leading orchestras worldwide, highlighted by sustained collaborations such as repeated appearances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden on tours spanning Europe, Asia, and Australia; multiple engagements with the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Iván Fischer in Budapest; and regular work alongside the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester as well as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2012 Feng established the Dragon Quartet and has explored chamber repertoire with musicians including pianist Igor Levit and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott. Within China he remains especially popular, having served as artist-in-residence with the Shanghai Symphony during the 2020-2021 season and having presented Beethoven violin sonatas across fourteen cities on a national tour. His recording activity centers on the Channel Classics label, beginning with early releases such as Hello Mr. Paganini in 2008 on its Channel of China imprint. Although his catalog emphasizes late-Romantic and early-twentieth-century concertos, he also issued Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin in 2018, followed in 2021 by Paganini: 24 Caprices + 1. He holds teaching positions at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and has acted as guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.