Born in Guangzhou, China, Danqi Zeng is an active performer and chamber musician, specializing in both modern and baroque violin. Danqi has won multiple competitions, including the Concerto Competition at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (2016, 2018), the 2020 MASTA Solo Competition, the 2020 MTNA Michigan Young Artist Competition, and the Historical Performance Institute Vivaldi Competition at Indiana University in 2024 (baroque violin). She was also a semi-finalist at the 2023 Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China. Most recently, Danqi won the Saint-Georges Violin Concerto Competition (classical violin) in 2024 and the Stravinsky Violin Concerto Competition (modern violin) in 2025 at IU. Danqi has performed as a soloist with CCM Concert Orchestra, CCM Philharmonia, Starling Orchestra, and IU Baroque Orchestra. She served as Concertmaster of the University Philharmonia Orchestra at the University of Michigan (2019–2020) and the CCM Concert Orchestra for multiple seasons. She has received scholarships to attend renowned music festivals, including the Great Wall Festival, High Peaks Music Festival, and Bowdoin Festival, and attended the Encore Festival as a violin fellow.
Currently, Danqi is pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in Violin under Prof. Mauricio Fuks and a second Doctor of Music degree in Historical Performance (Baroque Violin) under Prof. Ingrid Matthews at IU, where she serves as a Music Theory Associate Instructor. Danqi also studies Viola da Gamba (Treble Viol and Pardessus de viole) with Prof. Joanna Blendulf at IU. Danqi completed an MM in Violin Performance and an MM in Chamber Music from the University of Michigan and a BM from the University of Cincinnati.
Danqi is an experienced and passionate violin teacher who has taught a wide age range of students from children to older adults for over 10 years. Her teaching has an emphasis on helping students with building a solid foundation of the violin techniques as well as the ability to express personal emotions in the music. She has worked with precollege students in Ann Arbor, Cincinnati and Guangzhou, China.