Kerson Leong, violin

“It would be madness on the part of the musical world not to understand he is one of the great violinists of the 21st century.” –Augustin Dumay

Kerson Leong has been described as “not just one of Canada’s greatest violinists but one of the greatest violinists, period.” (Toronto Star). Forging a unique path since his First Prize win at the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 2010, he continues to win over colleagues and audiences alike with “a mixture of spontaneity and mastery, elegance, fantasy, intensity that makes his sound recognizable from the first notes” (Le Monde). 

His latest album release of ‘Britten & Bruch’, recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Patrick Hahn for Alpha Classics, was awarded Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Choc de Classica, and ‘The Strad Recommends’ by The Strad, as well as five-star recommendations from The Sunday Times and Diapason, among others.

As a sought-after soloist, he was hand-picked by Yannick Nézet-Séguin to be artist-in-residence with the Orchestre Métropolitain during the 18/19 season and has recently performed as soloist with such ensembles as the Royal, Oslo, Brussels, Kansai, and Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Seattle, Singapore, Toronto, Istanbul, Toledo, Montreal, Stavanger, and Wuppertal Symphony Orchestras. 

Kerson performs on the ‘ex Bohrer, Baumgartner’ Guarneri del Gesu violin courtesy of Canimex Inc, Drummondville (Quebec, Canada).