Chinese-American violinist He Kui was born in 1971 in Shanghai. He was exposed to music at an early age under the influence of his family. He began learning the violin at the age of four, and later trained under Zhang Shixiang, Ding Zhinuo and Hong Yunxuan at the primary and middle schools affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
He went to the United States to study violin performance in 1992, first at the School of Music of the Washington University, and later the Northwestern University in Chicago, and was awarded a Master’s degree. During the university years, he was concertmaster of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. The latter gave highly successful concerts with famous maestros Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez conducting, as well as winning major awards with their concertos.
In May 2000, at the invitation of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, He Kui gave a sold-out violin recital. He joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 2000, and was on the faculty of the University of Missouri - Kansas City between 2003 and 2005. He has been with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra since 2005. During his tenure, He has been invited by the Hangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Xiamen Symphony Orchestra to perform as soloist The Butterfly Lovers Concerto on several occasions.
