When violinist Paul Huang looks at the word "virtuoso," he sees the word "virtue."

"I think that's where the meaning of the word 'virtuosity' comes from," Paul said. "We tend to get bogged down with the idea that 'virtuosity' is all about showing off, and showmanship, but I think there is a greater meaning."

Paul, who received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2015 and Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists in 2017, officially lives in New York but also spends much of his time in his native Taiwan - and on the road. For 10 years he has been playing the 1742 "ex-Wieniawski" Guarneri del Gesù, on loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. Just this month Paul appeared on the cover for Strings Magazine, and October 6 is the release of Kaleidoscope, his first recording in a series of six recordings that he will do for the French label Naive Records.

Violinist Paul Huang wants the world to love the violin as much as he does. Born in Taiwan and raised by parents he describes as "not musical," Huang was unconditionally supported early in his fascination with the violin, an instrument he first encountered at the age of seven when attending a music recital in his hometown. "I was completely captivated by this little wooden box that created such beautiful sounds," he says. "The idea of being onstage, playing such an instrument, was something I became instantly fascinated with. I told my parents that was what I wanted to do with my life, they said yes, and I have never thought of doing anything else since. I am still madly in love with the violin and with sharing the gift of this beautiful music."

Huang and Rabinovich gave what was one of the most satisfying chamber music performances we have heard in years. Their expression, phrasing, dynamics and all else were so well attuned to one another you would guess they have been working on this material extensively. In so thinking, you’d be only half right.

"𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 [𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘪 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴] 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘪, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘢, 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺-𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯.⁣

At times it was unclear which was more impressive: Huang’s nonchalance in the face of a virtuosic score, or the immense fun he was having with the music and the orchestra – which was a delight. Huang’s dolce playing in the third movement was enchanting, with seamless lines and tender emotion. The brilliant double-stopped runs at the start of the finale were tossed off with aplomb, humour and precision; His facility was consistently impressive.

Paul Huang brought an ideal sweet, silvery tone to the Prelude. He proceeded to display a remarkable strong double-stop and chordal technique. Even in the quicker, higher passages, his sound cut distinctly through the orchestra. The Andante was especially affirming, affecting- really just beautiful.

In the Finale, Huang maintained a graceful touch even at maximum attack, with wondrous fluidity on the rapid runs, chromatic and otherwise, fingers flying almost too fast to see. After an ovation he returned with Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices as a solo encore.

Huang displayed both intensity and accuracy, culminating in some serene high E string playing […]. Huang’s superlative technique sparked the Finale with an edge of excitement. Huang played the encore, Kreisler’s Scherzo, with consummate panache.

Every once in a while, a concertgoer is treated to an evening where all of the hoped-for elements are in place: the playing is first-rate, the performers exude warmth and ease, the audience is engaged, the program is a mix of familiar and unusual — in other words, a concert with Carnegie Hall electricity but summer festival Gemütlichkeit, even if it’s still February. Violinists Paul Huang and Danbi Um and pianist Amy Yang presented just such a concert to the Cleveland Chamber Music Society audience at Disciples Christian Church on February 21.

Paul Huang is truly a special violinist, and last Thursday I once again had the chance to enjoy his artistry[…]Paul has been in the news lately - earlier this month he signed with Naïve Records as an exclusive recording artist[…] Playing with pianist Gilles Vonsattel, Huang achieved that delicate shimmer unique to Prokofiev's first violin sonata[…] Huang and Vonsattel were beautifully aligned when the music was parallel in both parts, and they played together like clockwork when the musical wheels spun in many directions.

Violinist Paul Huang opened his recital with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott with unbelievably controlled playing in Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel, a characteristic that proved to be a theme of the entire programme. His impressive bow control led to expansive, timeless phrases and it seemed as if the audience held its breath for the entire ten minutes, so pristine and mesmerising.

Violinist Paul Huang has given some striking ensemble performances over recent years on Wolf Trap’s chamber music series. Friday night in the Barns, a large audience had the chance to hear him in a solo recital, accompanied adroitly by pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. The challenging program, carefully selected to highlight connections among pieces, elicited both startling virtuosity and lyrical beauty from both musicians.

Huang has much in common with Jascha Heifetz, who was also known for this concerto and who played with a unique sweetness that contrasted with some dazzling playing as well [...] Huang effectively captured the intensity of this concerto. It was a "dream performance" that really moved those who heard his playing. [...] Yes, Huang ensured that the violin really sang in this music. He is very expressive and conveys moments of joy as well as deep feeling. Little wonder that the audience, prompted by the orchestra, gave Huang a tremendous standing ovation that led to rhythmic applause, the traditional European insistence on an encored.

Watching him tease out those somber melodies and frenetically scale the fingerboard to keep up with Shostakovich's furious note changes was worth the delay. His performance Friday night — the first of two this weekend — kinda felt like a prayer for Ukraine. His extended solo turn where fast-paced urgency melted into near silence with notes that whispered as they left his bow captured the imagination of not only us in the audience but the musicians on stage with him. The violin section and its leader sat mesmerized as he played. 

If there was a word that combined “exhilaration” with “exuberance,” we would surely be using it today to describe the October installments of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concerts this past Thursday and Friday evenings at the Tennessee Theatre. Tapping that subtle richness was violinist Paul Huang, who last intrigued Knoxville audiences in 2017 with the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Huang played the Bruch with stunning precision and control of intricate bow strokes, but what marked the performance was his amazing range of dynamic contrasts within passages, all intelligently and articulately positioned. This was romantic musical sculpting at a most impressive degree, sculpting that was also being mirrored with solidity by Demirjian and the orchestra.

Violinist Paul Huang and pianist Helen Huang are highly lauded soloists who happen to share a last name that’s common in their native Taiwan. But they aren’t brother and sister, nor are they married. A few times a year they come together as a powerhouse duo and their next appearance, only the second since the pandemic began, is taking place on Saturday evening, Sept. 18, for Tannery Pond Concerts at St. James Church in Chatham. They’ll perform a 90-minute program of sonatas by Mendelssohn, Corigliano and Franck.

The duo’s teamwork seems to come as natural as breathing. Their phrasing and tempo changes were effortless, and their unison passages were always impressive, maintaining great clarity and evenness even at the fastest tempos.

Violinist Paul Huang, a recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, gave a stellar performance in the beautiful auditorium of Washington Irving High School. Mendelssohn’s F major Violin Sonata opened the programme, and Huang immediately demonstrated his amazing bow control and ability to use vibrato to colour sound in varied ways.

Featuring Taiwan-born, U.S.-based violinist Paul Huang and Taiwanese American cellist Felix Fan — for whom the concerto was written — the orchestra supported the interplay between the violin’s sweet musings and the cello’s frenetic machinations in the opening “Drifting Shadow.” The two musicians complemented each other well, with Fan’s butterscotch tone and Huang’s lyrical lines flowing with ease. Their meandering melodies in “A Flowering Sacrifice” were beautiful yet unsettling, thanks in part to the ghostly glissandos in the strings, the sounds of paper crumpling and slowly ripping, a bass drum beating like a heart and water pouring and swirling in bowls. Ling threaded these effects gently beneath the soloists, adding to the movement’s primordial quality. Spirited runs in the orchestra heralded “In Expectation,” which evolved into a whimsical waltz. The musicians dove into “Yearning: A Sweet Torture” with operatic verve. Their runs and riffs propelled the soloists to a peak where violin and cello traded emphatic statements before agreeing on a joyous ending.

When your performance receives vigorous applause and unanimous standing ovations with three callbacks until you play an encore, you can be pretty sure the audience enjoyed it. On Saturday night violinist Paul Huang earned all that for his performance of Antonin Dvorák’s Violin Concerto in A minor with the Long Beach Symphony - but there was more. He consistently played with precision, artistry and control, as well as a many-faceted vibrato and gift for timing.

Mr. Huang’s solo entry, only five measures in, sounded vigorously authoritative without any audible gear-change from the slow opening.[...] Fine though this was, the Allegro giocoso Finale was even more memorable, dancingly airborne from start to finish, but with Mr. Huang’s perfectly focused intonation never compromised despite the speeds. The audience cheered this magnificent performance to the Terrace Theater’s rafters, and after being called back several times Mr. Huang obliged with a richly elaborated encore that had me unsuccessfully scratching my memory, but which my knowledgeable spouse informed me was The Red Violin Caprices.