Muzi Lyu, born in 1996 in Nanjing, China, began his studies in 2015 at the University of Music,
Drama, and Media Hanover with Professor Adam Kostecki, focusing on classical violin
performance. In 2020, he continued his master’s studies in Contemporary Music at the Folkwang
University of the Arts in Essen under Professor Barbara Maurer. He was a prizewinner at the 1st
Schunfeld International String Competition.
As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in various contemporary music festivals,
including the Impuls Festival Graz (Austria), Warsaw Autumn Music Festival (Poland), Festival
Mixtur (Spain), Mostra Sonora Sueca (Spain), China-ASEAN Music Week, Acht Brücken Festival
Cologne, Blurred Edges Festival Hamburg, Klangbrücken Music Festival Hanover, Festival NOW!
Essen, and Hörfest Detmold. In 2021, he was an active participant in the Darmstadt Summer
Course for New Music. He is currently the violinist of the Benmo Trio.
He has premiered several contemporary works by composers such as Günter Steinke, Karen
Keyhani, Snezana Nesic, Markus Roth, Philipp Henkel, Monika Szpyrka, Simon Bahr, among
others. He has performed with ensembles including Ensemble Musikfabrik, ÉRMA Ensemble,
Ensemble man.manufaktur, Ensemble CoILAB Cologne, Ensemble Ur.Werk, Peripherie Quartet
and so on. He has received significant artistic inspiration from Pierluigi Billone, Hannah Weirich,
Melise Mellinger, and Ernst Kovacic. He has also performed with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Ingo
Metzmacher, Hannah Weirich, Susanne Blumenthal, Rüdiger Bohn, among others. In 2023, he
was awarded a DAAD scholarship as a soloist for the Impuls Festival in Graz, Austria.
“His interest lies particularly in expanding the auditory experience made possible through new
playing techniques. His talent lies in patiently perfecting these techniques and then combining
them with his traditionally trained violin virtuosity. As such, his repertoire includes complex
works as well as highly sensitive microtonal compositions and pieces characterized by
overtones.” – Barbara Maurer
