Awarded as the recent Winner and Audience Prize recipient of the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York, ArcoStrum became the first-ever violin-guitar duo to win in its competition's 72-year history. ArcoStrum consists of three-times international First Prize-winning violinist Strauss Shi (violin, erhu, dizi), and the Grand Prize winner of Guitar Foundation of America - International Concert Artist Competition (GFA-ICAC), TY Zhang (classical guitar, electric guitar).
Highlights of their 2023-2024 Season include Friends of Music Stamford, Carnegie Hall Citywide, Rancho La Puerta, Concerts by the Pond, Bohemians New York Musicians’ Club, Strings Music Festival, Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, and Music for Autism. ArcoStrum's 2022-2023 Season include major debuts at the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, Festival Cultural Zacatecas (Mexico), National Sawdust, Austin Chamber Music Festival, and Caramoor.
ArcoStrum captures the hearts of audiences through their charisma, virtuosity, and dazzling on-stage chemistry. The multi-instrumental duo champions unique concert programming through their original transcriptions of beloved classical repertoire, traditional Chinese instrumental music infused with modern instrumentations, as well as virtuosic non-classical instrumental progressive rock.
Initially encountered at The Juilliard School, the two soon discovered unspoken chemistry not only in life but in music making. ArcoStrum is pushing boundaries and redefining the 21st century violin-guitar art form, presenting a new chamber music that is mixed-genre, multi-culture, and cross-era.
