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Sha Katsouris was born in Hunan, China. She began studying the violin at the age of 4 with her mother, who is a violin professor in Wuhan Conservatory of Music. Already one year later, she started giving public performances.
When she was 10 years old, Sha became the youngest winner of China’s National Violin Competition. At the age of 15, she won the International Menuhin Violin Competition in England. Since then she played many recitals in China and appeared as a soloist with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra.
After graduating from high school, Sha received a full scholarship from the Starling Foundation to go to the USA to study with Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus and the late Ms. Dorothy Delay at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where she had also opportunities to have chamber music lessons with the La Salle String Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet. As a winner of CCM’s Concerto Competition, she played regularly as a soloist with the Concert Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra. Her performance of Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Delivered a big-boned interpretation…displayed both poise and fabulous technique and made it her own with lyricism and expression.” (Cincinnati Enquirer)
From 1992 to 1994, she attended the Aspen Music Festival where she played solo and chamber music recitals in the Starling Music Series. In 1996, she recorded the world premiere recording of Giornovichi’s Violin Concerto No. 10 for ARTE NOVA with the Starling Chamber Orchestra. Upon finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance in 1997, Sha went to the School of Music at the Yale University to study with Peter Oundjian - the former first violinist in the Tokyo String Quartet, and also recieved chamber music coaching from members the Tokyo String Quartet.
In 1998, Sha moved to Germany to study with Professor Nicolas
Chumachenco before she became a member of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Orchestra. Since January 2000, Sha plays in the Hába Quartet and has given concerts
throughout Germany and Europe as well as in Asia, including a concert Tour to
China with appearances in "Shanghai Spring International Music
Festival" and "Beijing Modern Music Festival", in Warsaw Music
Festival and in Pärnu Music Festival in 2016. At the mean time, Sha has also
been active in teaching and supporting younger musicians. She has coached the
participants of Hessen State Youth Orchestra regularly, started with the
members of Hába Quartet
a children's music educational program in kindergardens in the Frankfurt area
and together with her quartet in China, she has given master
classes in Shanghai Conservatory of Music, in Northeast University, in Wuhan
Conservatory of Muisc and in Beijing Renmin University.
