Violinist William Shaub was appointed Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in 2017 at 24 years old.
William has since served as Guest Concertmaster with orchestras around the world, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Phoenix Symphony. He is regularly featured as violin soloist in a vast repertoire that ranges from Bach, Vivaldi, and Biber, to the music of Philip Glass, Alfred Schnittke, and Samuel Barber.
Now streaming: watch William Shaub Guest Lead the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with conductor André de Ridder at Auckland Town Hall on NZSO+.
“The solo violin, the voice of Scheherazade that opens and closes the work, came from Concertmaster William Shaub in a performance that was superb in its haunting emotion and drama, gorgeous tone, and impeccable intonation.”
- ArtsKnoxville
”(Shaub) truly captured the sense of rising from tragedy and moving forward with purpose, gliding between delicate passages and virtuosic fireworks.”
- Violinist.com
A seasoned soloist.
Since his concerto debut at twelve years old under the baton of Gerhardt Zimmermann, William Shaub’s concerto repertoire has grown to encompass everything from the standard Romantic and Classical masterpieces to Ligeti’s Violin Concerto (1993) and Michael Schachter’s “Cycle of Life” Violin Concerto, composed in 2021. During his time at the Juilliard School, he performed as soloist in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and he continues to perform as soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, with important debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Sanders Theatre at Harvard.
“William Shaub’s performance of the solos in my “Cold Mountain Suite” were extraordinary! Not only were they beautiful and perfectly executed, he actually conveyed the complete blue-grass essence of the melodies, just as I had imagined them in my compositional process.”
- Jennifer Higdon, composer
Passion for the great music of today.
As the director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's acclaimed Concertmaster Series and a frequent recitalist around the world, William Shaub has developed thematic programming that spans every period of music in addition to regularly leading concertos from the violin. His vision for recitals is focused on exploring the history of music and deeply examining the work of great composers through speaking from the stage, cross-genre collaborations, the inclusion of great vocalists, and connecting musical language with the experiences of everyday life that we all share.
Highlights of William’s recitals include the world premiere of a 2021 commission by composer Alexandra T. Bryant (“Petrichor”), the world premiere of Paul Frucht’s “What a Time” for violin and piano, and a spotlight on great living composers, including Carlos Simon, Mason Bates, Michael Schachter, and Kendall Briggs.
While studying at the Juilliard School, he worked closely with composer Samuel Adler on the centennial tribute performances of works by Milton Babbitt and Adler himself at Lincoln Center.
