Acclaimed as “beautifully expressive” and “exhibit[ing] remarkable control in her performance” (Fanfare Magazine), violinist Fangye Sun has concertized throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, appearing in concert venues, such as Wiener Musikverein, Tonhalle Maag, Suntory Hall, Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara, Victory Symphony Hall, Benaroya Hall, and Hong Kong Cultural Center. The renowned musicians with whom she has collaborated include Ralph Votapek, Carl Topilow, Bin Huang, Stephan Picard, Yuri Gandelsman, Anthony Elliott, and members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. An avid chamber musician, she is a founding member of the Accorda Trio (violin, cello, and harp), the Armonia String Quartet, and Duo Piacevole (violin and cello), and was featured in the Asian Youth Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, and Leelanau Summer Music Festival. A seasoned orchestral musician, Sun has served as guest concertmaster of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, and Shannxi Symphony Orchestra (China). In addition, she has been performing with the Grand Rapids Symphony since 2011.
Sun has held professorships for over a decade at Central Michigan University and Xi’an Conservatory of Music, where she received the Distinguished Faculty Award. She was a member of the resident string quartet and chair of the string area at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. In addition to serving as a faculty artist at the Bay View Music Festival during the summers, Sun performs on concert tours and holds residencies at Universities and Conservatories in China. A sought-after teacher, she has presented seminars and lecture-recitals at International ClarinetFest, the College of Music Society National Conference, and the Michigan Music Conference. She served on the American String Teacher Association Collegiate Committee from 2018-2020. Her recent master class engagements include master classes at Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music (Thailand), Bowling Green State University, California State University, Luther College, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Xi’an Conservatory of Music, Xia Men University, Capital Normal University, Shandong University, and Guangxi Normal University (China), among others.
In recent years, her students have been named prize winners at the MMTA Young Artist Solo Competition, White Lake Young Artist Competition, Concert Artist International Virtuoso Competition, and Bay View Music Festival Concerto Competition. Numerous students made solo appearances with orchestras such as the Jackson Symphony, CMU Symphony, and BVMF Orchestra and made debut performances in Carnegie Hall. Her students have received full scholarships to the Round Top Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Philadelphia Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival. Alumni of her studio can be found as collegiate teaching faculty, professional orchestral musicians, and graduate music programs in China, Ecuador, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, and the U.S. Her interest in multicultural musical elements in new music has led to her CD recording project “Chinese Fantasies.” Featuring traditional and newly commissioned works by Chinese and American composers, it was released by Blue Griffin Recording in 2019. It is available on primary streaming services like iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Music, and Spotify.
Her early violin training started at an early age with her father. After winning the gold medal at the “Gao Hua” Chinese Youth Violin Competition at the age of eleven, she won the Best Performance Prize at the 7th Chinese National Violin Competition, the Bronze Medal at the 3rd Chinese National “Golden Bell Award” Violin Competition, and the Second Prize at the Marquette Symphony Young Artist Competition. She was also named the Michigan State University Honors Concert Concerto Competition winner.
Sun holds a D.M.A. and M.M. in Violin Performance from Michigan State University. Her mentors include Walter Verdehr, Yaoji Lin, and Xie Min. She had further opportunities to work with the Julliard String Quartet, David Kim, Paul Roczek, Alice Schoenfeld, Charles Dutoit, and Valery Gergiev during her studies. Her live performances and media appearances have been broadcast on Blue Lake Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, WRUV, WCMU, WKAR, WDIY, WLNS, and Hanzhong TV Station.
She resides in DeWitt, MI, with her family. Besides music, she loves cooking, gardening, spending time with her toddler daughter, and fishing alongside her husband.