Since 2001, Franklin Pond Chamber Music, in collaboration with the ASYO, has coached and inspired young classical chamber musicians by providing the highest quality music education.
Meet Tobias Liu, one of a robust group of Johns Creek student musicians, who started his intensive training with Franklin Pond at age 10.
A violin student of Nadir Khashimov (also a Johns Creek resident), Liu is no stranger to braving center stage. Liu’s love for the violin started passionately at age 5 when he was inspired by his sister Phoebe’s violin lessons. At age ten, he made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall and with the Georgia Philharmonic at age 11. As he honed his skills through Franklin Pond, countless prestigious awards followed that have earned him performances on a worldwide stage.
Most recently, Tobias was named winner of the Young Arts National Competition. He has also been selected as a member of the 2022 National Youth Orchestra for the United States of America and will tour Europe in August. Aside from numerous solo awards, Liu has served as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and the GMEA All-State Orchestra and has played in international music festivals with distinguished artists worldwide.
This spring, Liu’s Sycamore Trio was selected to compete for the final rounds in three of the largest and most prestigious national chamber music competitions –the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the WDAV Young Chamber Music Competition, and the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. He hopes to continue his solo, chamber, and orchestral skills as a student at Stanford or Yale University.
In addition to his busy violin performing schedule, Tobias was also a captain of the Westminster Varsity Swim Team, earning the Swimming All-American National Recognition, and a year-round swimmer at Dynamo Swim Club for ten years. As the president of Westminster Music Service Club, he led his peers to perform regularly at Metro Atlanta senior centers and memory care centers including Emory Johns Creek Hospital.
“I love chamber music because it allows intimate conversation through music with my peers. In solo, we aim to stand out and express ourselves individually. In orchestra, we learn to blend our sounds, to join forces with a hundred other musicians. In chamber, we get to do both.” -- Tobias Liu.
