BORN in a musician’s family in Shanghai in 1982, Zhang Le began playing the violin at age 4. He won the first prize in the National Violin Competition of China at age 13. When Dorothy DeLay heard him play, she said: “All the world will hear your playing, you will be a great violinist.”

Later, Zhang went on to win the violin competition at the Aspen Music Festival, and immediately received a full scholarship from the Juilliard School of Music.

In Europe, the young violinist won a prize in the Queen Elizabeth International Competition in Belgium, the Menuhin Violin Competition in England, and the Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poland.

After attending Juilliard, he became the first violinist from China to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City.

As a soloist, he frequently gives concerts throughout the world.

Zhang’s violin is a copy of a 1678 Stradivari made by Leandro Bisiach in 1920. This Bisiach violin was formerly owned by the legendary violinist Nathan Milstein.