Kate Vo

Kate is a 16-year-old violinist from Palo Alto, CA. She has been playing violin since the age of 4 and currently studies with Professor Chen Zhao. Kate is a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College, as well as a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Young Chamber Musicians program. Kate also serves as Co-Regional Director of the Palo Alto region of the Back to Bach Project, where she aims to spread the love of music to local schools. This past summer, Kate studied with Professor Ayano Ninomiya at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and in the summer of 2024, Kate attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra, where she was selected as co-concertmaster.

Kate has received awards in numerous competitions. She won the 2025-26 Khuner Young Artist Concerto Competition and will perform the Barber Violin Concerto as a soloist with the Prometheus Symphony Orchestra in March 2026. She was also awarded second prize in the 2026 Nova Vista Symphony Mary Jane Beck Young Artist Concerto Competition and was named a winner of the 2025 YoungArts National Arts Competition. Previously, Kate has won 1st prize in the 2023 Vienna Virtuoso Music Competition with the Judge's Best Performance Award and the Best Performance Award of the evening at the Gala concert in Berlin, 1st prize in the 2023 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition where she was invited to perform in Salzburg, and 1st prize in the 2021 US International Open Music Competition, 2020 VIVO International Music Competition, 2020 Elite International Music Competition, 2020 Prima Volta Music Competition, 2020 New York Artists International Music Competition, and the 2018 East Coast International Music Competition. Kate has played in masterclasses with renowned artists Jessie Montgomery, Nathan Cole, and the Aris, Bennewitz, and Telegraph string quartets. For piano, Kate has received awards from the Piano Teachers Society of America. Kate has performed multiple times at Carnegie Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, and Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. 

Kate was concertmaster of the CMEA Bay Section Winter Conference 2023 Honors Orchestra and the 2024-25 Palo Alto High School Orchestra. In addition, Kate performed in the 2023 CASMEC All-State Junior High String Orchestra, the 2023 CODA December Honors Symphony Orchestra, and the 2024 CASMEC All-State High School Symphony Orchestra.

Aside from music, Kate enjoys playing tennis, composing and arranging music, writing poems and stories, and traveling the world. With her music, Kate aims to heal people and take her audiences on an adventure through life.