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News Soang Wu Joins Braunschweig State Orchestra

Songao Wu (class of Prof. Daniel Gaede) has received a temporary contract as deputy 1st concertmaster with the Braunschweig State Orchestra. Congratulations!

Born in 1997, he began studying the violin with Prof. Wang Guan at the age of four. At the age of seven, he became a pupil of Professor Yaoji Lin. In 2009, he was admitted to the affiliated secondary school of the Central Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2015. During his time there, he studied with Professor Weidong Tong and received the CCOM Affiliated Secondary School Scholarship. He was also the second violin section leader of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra.

After completing his studies at the CCOM, he was accepted at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he completed a Bachelor's degree under the tutelage of Professor Pierre Amoyal. He then completed a Master's degree and postgraduate studies with Prof. Rainer Schmidt. He received full scholarships for the Morningside Music Bridge Summer Festival in Canada and the Meadowmount Summer Festival in the USA. He also performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, KV 364, at the Cervo Music Festival. As a soloist, he performed with the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten, as well as with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra and others.

He has won several awards, including first prize in the China Musicians' Association Violin Competition in Beijing and a place in the final of the 10^(th) China National Youth Violin Competition. He won third prize, as well as the Bach Prize for the best interpretation, at the 'Andrea Postacchini' International Violin Competition in Italy; third prize at the Schönfeld International String Competition; and the Beethoven Prize.
He has been studying on Prof. Daniel Gaede's masterclass programme since 2024. In May 2025, he received a scholarship from the Hofmann-Hagemann-Hildesheimer Foundation, as well as permission to use a 1706 Giuseppe Guarneri violin for one year.

He held a fixed-term position as a first violinist with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra during the 2024–25 season. At the end of this period, he was offered a fixed-term contract as deputy first concertmaster with Braunschweig State Orchestra.