Tobias Liu

Biography

Tobias Liu is a violinist who currently studies with Nadir Khashimov and previously studied with Sonja Foster and Keiko Furness. Tobias was recently named a winner of the YoungArts National Competition in violin. He was also selected as a member of Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America and will tour Europe with NYO-USA under the baton of Daniel Harding in the summer of 2022. Tobias made his solo debut at age eleven with the Georgia Philharmonic as the first prize winner of the Samuel Fordis Young Artists Concerto Competition. He is a winner of the concerto competitions of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra, DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Symphony Orchestra, and Georgia Music Teachers Association Instrumental Concerto Competition and received the special achievement award from the Philadelphia International Music Festival at the Hilton Head Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. At age ten, he performed solo at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall as a first prize winner of the American Protégé Piano and Strings International Competition.

As an orchestral musician, Tobias has served as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, the GMEA All-State Orchestra, and the Westminster Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Tobias is currently a member of the ASYO Chamber Players. His piano trio, the Sycamore Trio, won the first prize and the People’s Choice prize at the WDAV’s Young Chamber Musicians National Competition and advanced to the live round in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Coltman Chamber Music Competition. His piano trio also won the Grand Prize in the Franklin Pond Chamber Music Competition in multiple years, which included their winners' concert performances at Spivey Hall being broadcasted on WABE Radio. In addition, Tobias performed Osvaldo Golijov’s Nonet, "Last Round," with principal players of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and he played in a string quartet for a film recording of Augusta Read Thomas' "Plea for Peace" for an Atlanta Symphony education program. Through his participation in the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Orford International Music Festival, Credo Summer Music Program and Franklin Pond Chamber Music Program, he has worked with distinguished artists such as the Emerson Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Robin Scott, Nelson Lee, Renee Jolles, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Mark Kaplan, Ani Schnarch, David Coucheron, Justin Bruns, Daniel Laufer, Jun-Ching Lin, Brad Ritchie, Itamar Zorman, Sibbi Bernhardsson, Peter Slowik, Marilyn McDonald, James Howsman, Raman Ramakrishnan, David Fung, Liza Stepanova, Elizabeth Pridgen, Karen Gomyo, and Steven Copes.

Tobias is a senior at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, where he serves as a school newspaper editor, music service club president, and a captain of their state-championship-winning Varsity Swim Team. A recipient of the Swimming All-American National Recognition, Tobias has won multiple gold medals in the Georgia High School Swimming State Championships and has been a year-round swimmer at Dynamo Swim Club for ten years. Tobias is also a National Merit Scholar and the grand prize winner of the Young Achiever Award from the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association. In addition, he has studied abroad in Spain and Argentina through global education programs. Tobias will attend Yale University next fall.