Hairui Lei
China, 21
Hairui Lei began studying violin at age seven and entered the music middle school affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2016. He later studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi and has received guidance from Itzhak Perlman, Gideon Kremer, Boris Kuschnir, and Pierre Amoyal. He has performed at major venues including Shanghai Concert Hall and Hangzhou Grand Theatre, and was a Finalist in the 2025 Sendai International Violin Competition and Semifinalist in the 2026 Singapore International Violin Competition.
Teachers:
Shmuel Ashkenasi 2022 – present
Pamela Frank 2022 – present
Yun Wei 2015 – 2022
Preliminaries
Sonata No. 6 in E major — E. Ysaÿe
No. 6 from Six Polyphonic Etudes: Variations on
The Last Rose of Summer — H. W. Ernst
Sonata in E minor, K. 304 — W. A. Mozart
Albumblatt — R. Wagner (arr. A. Wilhelmj)
Semi-Finals
Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 12 — L. van Beethoven
Rhapsody No. 3 for Solo Violin — Jessie Montgomery
Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 80 — S. Prokofiev
Carmen Fantasy (after Bizet) — F. Waxman
Classical Finals
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216 — W. A. Mozart
Liebesleid — F. Kreisler (orch. J. Kuusisto)
Finals
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99 — D. Shostakovich
