Who am I?

I am trained as a classical violinist, and a self-taught composer. I hold a Bachelor of Music Performance with first class Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Unfortunately I developed focal dystonia in my left hand towards the end of my degree, and now I study mathematics and physics at the University of Sydney.

Click here to read my series of blogposts on focal dystonia.

Continue reading below to see my ‘official’ biography.

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Jonathan Mui was born in Hong Kong in 1991 and started playing the violin at the age of five. Since moving to Sydney in 2002, he has studied with internationally renowned teachers such as Prof. Shi-xiang (Peter) Zhang, Charmian Gadd and, most recently, Prof. Ole Bøhn.

In June 2006, he was the Outstanding Performer of the Ku-Ring-Gai Concerto Competition. In September 2007, he won first prize at the Kendall National Violin Competition, and also the inaugural recipient of the TimberLay travel scholarship. In October of the same year, he performed with the Queensland Youth Orchestra, and was a joint winner of the National Youth Concerto Competition, held in Brisbane. As a recipient of the Travel Scholarship, he travelled to London in December 2007 for private tuition with Prof. Kun Hu, a distinguished professor of the Royal Academy of Music.

Jonathan was a scholarship holder at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, from where he has now graduated with Bachelor of Music Performance, First Class Honours. Throughout his studies, he continued to perform solo, chamber music and orchestral concerts in Australia and abroad. In December 2010, he won first prize at the Gisborne International Music Competition (NZ), and was also a joint winner of the Prize for the Best Interpretation of a NZ Composition. He was invited back to New Zealand in January 2011, to perform at the Australian High Commission in Wellington.

In June 2011, Jonathan was invited to participate in the inaugural Lausanne Summer University, an intensive chamber music program. In July of the same year, he performed string quartet and solo recitals at the Vigeland Summer Concert series in Oslo, as well as the anniversary concert series for the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro. Since then, he has had further opportunities to perform in Scandinavia and Brazil. He returned to perform in Oslo in 2012 and 2013, and also participated in the Santa Catarina Music Festival in Brazil in 2014. In 2012, he was selected to participate in the prestigious Carl Nielsen Competition and Festival in Odense, Denmark.

Jonathan has served as concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra of the Sydney Conservatorium. He toured as a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) in 2013, performing concerts with maestro Christoph Eschenbach and soloist Joshua Bell in some of the world’s most important venues, including the Sydney Opera House, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad. As part of AYO Chamber Players, he has received chamber music coaching from Lambert Orkis, and also performed at the 2013 Musica Viva Festival in Sydney.