As a teaching assistant (violin and orchestra) at the University of Kansas, Yiming “Joey” Zhou earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance in 2021. As the Principal Second Violin of the University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Carolyn Watson, Dr. Zhou won two national-level prizes in the year 2020: the American Prize in Orchestral Performance and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music (as a featured soloist). Dr. Yiming “Joey” Zhou was also a prizewinner of the prestigious 2014 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Chamber Music Competition and Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) Strings Competitions in both 2014 and 2015.

Dr. Zhou is a violinist at the Topeka Symphony Orchestra in Kansas. Before moving to Kansas, Dr. Zhou played in the first violin section of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Missouri while leading the William T. White String Quartet as well as the violin section of the symphony orchestra of Missouri State University, where he earned his Master of Music degree.

Throughout his career, Dr. Zhou has played violin across the country, with a wide variety of distinguished American orchestras and ballets, including the Kansas City Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Dubuque Symphony, Saint Joseph Symphony, Springfield Symphony, Topeka Symphony, Kansas Ballet, Springfield Ballet, Springfield Regional Opera, and more in the past.

Dr. Zhou also has had the privilege of collaborating with world-renowned musicians such as Gil Shaham, Augustin Hadelich, Alexander Markov, Simone Porter, Tessa Lark, Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Ricardo Morales, Blake Pouliot, Roger Frisch, Amy Glidden, Caroline Goulding, Véronique Mathieu, Mary Elizabeth Bowden, Bryan Cheng, Sterling Elliott, Alexander Hersh, Inon Barnatan, Spencer Myer, Gabriela Martinez, Sean Chen, Ben Crawford, Hugh Panaro, Ola Rafalo, and others. Dr. Zhou has also given many solo recitals and chamber music concerts with his colleagues. Meanwhile, as a principal orchestral violinist, Dr. Zhou has worked with influential and internationally recognized maestri, among them: Michael Stern, Jack Everly, John Storgårds, Ludovic Morlot, Carolyn Watson, David Neely, Kyle Wiley Pickett, Jung-Ho Pak, Daniel Hege, William Intriligator, Robert Quebbeman, Troy Peters, Christopher Kelts, David Cho, Ryan Bancroft, Zushan Bian, and Urs-Michael Theus.

Dr. Zhou has been invited to participate in famous festivals and summer programs, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Northwestern University Summer Violin Institute, Masterworks of Music in Vienna & Prague, and Heartland Chamber Music Festival, to name a few. Additionally, Dr. Zhou has been invited to play in masterclasses of notable artists such as Gil Shaham, Alexander Markov, Brian Lewis, David Halen, Joel Smirnoff, Lucie Robert, Beth Titterington, Daniel S. Lee, Roger Frisch, Gerardo Ribeiro, Blair Milton, Hal Grossman, Diana Seitz, Noé Inui, as well as members of the New York Philharmonic (Frank Huang and Sheryl Staples), Chicago Symphony (Susan Synnestvedt and Diane Mues), Borromeo String Quartet (Kris Tong), and Quatuor Hermès.

In addition to his orchestral and chamber music playing career, Dr. Zhou is engaged in music education. He worked as a violin instructor in the undergraduate division at the University of Kansas. Dr. Zhou is an active member of the American Federation of Musicians and the American String Teachers Association. He is also a lifetime member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and a Suzuki violin teacher registered at the University of Hartford and the University of Wisconsin.