Chad Hoopes, Concert Violinist

2013 EMERGING MUSIC & DANCE PRIZE

Chad Hoopes feels fortunate to be an internationally acclaimed violinist at 18. “I am blessed to have a passion and know what my passion is at a young age,” he says. “There are a lot of young people who don’t know what they want to pursue, so I am lucky to have found something I really love to do, and all the concerts, recordings, and tours that accompany my passion are exciting.” He adds that he loves performing music for and talking with young people in the hope that he will inspire and motivate them to find their own passion.

“Chad is not just a good violin player,” observes Preston Hoopes. “He’s a delightful and a fine young man, and I’m proud to be his dad.”

The young virtuoso treasured watching performances by his two violinist sisters, Anna, who just graduated from Julliard School, and Alexandra, who will be a senior at Julliard in the fall. After picking up his first violin at age 4, Chad frequently performed with his sisters in what eventually became known as The Playing Hoopes trio. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without their support and inspiration when I was a child,” he says. One of his favorite memories is the trio’s Christmas performance for Robert Redford and his family and famous friends at Sundance, Utah, in 2009.

A graduate of University School this June, Chad will attend the Kronberg Academy music conservatory just outside of Frankfurt, Germany, in the fall. “I am going to Germany to study because I want to experience European culture, not only musically, but also the way things work over there,” he says. “I’m looking forward to soaking up all that I can so that I can be a better artist.”

Chad began his violin studies in Minneapolis, but he later studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music under David Cerone and Joel Smirnoff. “Mr. Hoopes has achieved a great deal in his brief time on this earth,” Smirnoff said in a recent article. “He demonstrates the value of lyricism in a tough world and does it graciously, yet powerfully through his violin.” Additionally, he studied at Ottawa’s NAC Young Artists Program and at the Heifetz Institute. He plays a 1713 Antonio Stradivari Cooper that is on permanent loan, courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.

He has appeared with numerous ensembles throughout the world, since he won the first prize at the Young Artists Division of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in 2008. His recent debuts include such orchestras as the Vancouver Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Brussels Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, and Trondheim Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada. His exceptional talent and magnificent tone are acclaimed by critics worldwide. He is a violinist possessing vibrant virtuosity “with an inspiring blend of emotional expression and technical ease” (Press Democrat), and his sense of musical drama is described as “way beyond his years” (Press Democrat).

Chad is a frequent guest artist at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, since his debut in August 2009. He has appeared at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Festival del Sole in Napa Valley, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where he has just recently been named the winner of the prestigious audience award. In October 2012 he was signed by the French label NAIVE (Gramophone award label of the year 2012). His first recording will be released in the autumn of 2013.

Beyond the concert hall, Chad’s virtuosity and exuberant personality have been featured on the CBS Early Show, NBC affiliate station WK YC (Cleveland), NPR station WCLV in Ohio, ABC affiliate station KSTP Twin Cities Live, and on PBS’s From the Top: Live at Carnegie Hall. He was the soloist on the Emmy Award-winning June 2007 television commercial for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team produced by SportsTime Ohio Network, which aired on NBC on SportsTime Ohio and on ESPN.

Although he aspires to study conducting, other than that, Chad maintains a healthy, open outlook on his violin career. “I’m just going to take one day at a time and keep doing what I’m doing,” he says.