Violinist Karen Su Appointed to Faculty at Belgium's Conservatoire Royal de Mons

The Queen Elisabeth Competition laureate joins Kremena Oksenkrug, Eliot Lawson, Wibert Aerts, and Daniel Rubenstein on the conservatoire's violin faculty

The American violinist Karen Su has recently been appointed to the faculty at Belgium's Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Mons. There, she will establish her own class — open to both bachelor's and master's students — from the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year.

A laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, a special prize winner at the Wieniawski International Violin Competition, and a top prize winner at both the Lipizer and Princess Astrid International Competitions, Su has also served as artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she was mentored by Augustin Dumay.

Su first began learning the violin from her father, and at just age fifteen, she entered the Rotterdam Conservatory, where she studied with Igor and Vesna Gruppman.

As a soloist, Su has appeared with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Belgian National Orchestra, Boca del Río Philharmonic, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, Sinfonia Rotterdam, Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, and the Polish Radio Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, among others.

She currently plays on a 1747 violin by Nicolò Gagliano, on loan to her from an anonymous donor.

Students who are interested in joining Su's class should contact her via her website.

"Starting my own class in the beautiful Conservatoire Royal de Mons is truly an honor for me," Su told The Violin Channel. "I’m incredibly grateful and excited to explore this great opportunity! I’m looking forward to sharing & exchanging knowledge, and the love for music with my students and colleagues."

"I am currently replacing Kremena Oksenkrug-Nikolova, who is on maternity leave, alongside a wonderful team of violin teachers consisting of Eliot Lawson, Wibert Aerts, and Daniel Rubenstein. The director has offered me to start an additional class as a guest teacher next academic year (2025-2026). This opens up a great perspective for me in this very dynamic institution!"