Anne Shih was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1968, and the quote published above was written about her by the legendary Josef Gingold, the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at the Indiana University School of Music, and it is this excellence that has been the hallmark of Anne Shih’s career. Anne Shih was the eldest of three sisters, born into a family that loved music but had no tradition of playing or performance. Anne began playing the violin when only five years old, and without any teacher, in what was to her a natural process. She only began taking formal lessons some two years later. Her sisters, Patricia, leader of the Borealis String Quartet, and Connie, pianist partner of Steven Isserlis and others, exhibited similar talents as genuine young prodigies.

Anne made her recital debut in Vancouver at the age of just eleven years old, and then made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic just one year later. By this time Anne was equally proficient as a pianist, exhibiting the same extraordinary natural talents as she had with the violin. She had begun taking piano lessons when she was ten, and after less than 18 months of study, she earned the top medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music for the Grade 8 Examination. She later studied with the noted pedagogue Lee Kum-Sing and began to perform publicly as an equally adept violinist, violist, and pianist, throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Anne was also heard, as both violinist and pianist, on television and radio in Canada, the United States, Korea, and Europe. In 1986, she was featured, along with sisters Patricia and Connie, in the documentary “Which Way to Carnegie Hall?” which then received the Gold Medal at the 1986 International Film Festival in New York.

From 1986-91, she studied with her beloved mentor,Josef Gingold, at Indiana University, and then served as his last teaching assistant as well as class pianist. She was recipient of the university’s 1988 International Student Academic Achievement Award for outstanding scholastic performance. She has also worked with Denes Zsigmondy in both Seattle and Europe, receiving the Mozarteumspreis in Salzburg.

In 1991, at the age of 22, Anne was appointed Visiting Professor at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and then went on to become the Chairperson of the String Department at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. She later became one of the youngest - ever tenured C4 Professors of Violin in Germany, at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz, a position she still holds. She has served as the Director and Conductor of the International Strings, a chamber ensemble, and has also conducted the Hochschulorchestra. Many of her students have won prizes at international competitions in Europe, including the Yfrah Neaman and Yankelevich International Competitions. They hold top positions in orchestras in Europe and Asia; others have become successful teachers in Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, United States, Canada and Czechoslovakia.

Anne has also taught and performed at various Festivals, including the Casalmaggiore Festival, the Auer Music Festival, the Holzhausen Musiktage, the Euro Arts Festival, and the International Beethovenfest in Bonn. Highly sought after as a pedagogue, she has given annual masterclasses throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

In the 90`s Anne was the co-founder (with Douglas Gowan)of the Wisconsin Virtuosi Artist Series in Milwaukee, which was based at the historic Pabst Theatre, and is presently Artistic Director of Norfolk Concerts in the UK, the Casalmaggiore International Festival and the MING Connection Mainz e.V. She directs the Mainzer Virtuosi which is rapidly garnering international attention. She presents concerts in both the UK, and elsewhere in Europe. Anne has also served as a jury member at Canadian and international competitions.

Anne had notable successes, including performing as violinist and pianist on one program in Wigmore Hall, with colleagues Raphael Wallfisch, Ruth Killius of the Zehetmair Quartet and her sister Patricia who is leader of the Borealis Quartet. This remarkable tour de force led to an invitation to play all the Grieg Sonatas in Wigmore later that year. Recent reviews, published in such newspapers as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, have described her as being “Brilliant and Virtuoso”, “Germanys’ next Superstar”, “Virtuoso and Spiritual” and “Phenomenal”.

Anne Shih plays on a Giuseppe filius Andrae Guarnerius of 1711.