Born and raised in San Francisco, violinist Kenneth Renshaw came to international attention in 2012 after winning First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing. He was also a prize winner in the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition of Belgium, and First Prize recipient of the inaugural Manhattan International Concert Artists Competition.

He has since performed extensively throughout many countries, both as a soloist with orchestras including the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the Jenaer Philharmonie, and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and in recitals at notable venues such as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany, and the Menuhin Festival Gstaad. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with many esteemed artists: pianist Leon Fleisher, violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pamela Frank, and Cho-Liang Lin, flautist Sir James Galway, and violist Kim Kashkashian at festivals such as Caramoor, Verbier, Ravinia, and Music@Menlo.

Equally committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of young musicians, Kenneth serves as Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He previously served as a teaching assistant to both Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at the Juilliard School. Under his guidance, students have won top prizes in the Yehudi Menuhin, Zhuhai, Leonid Kogan, Johansen, Michael Hill, Elmar Oliviera, and Louis Spohr International Competitions. He maintains a thriving private violin studio, with students winning many national competitions and acceptances to Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Colburn, Music@Menlo, Morningside Music Bridge, and other prestigious institutions.

He served as chamber music faculty at the Perlman Music Program’s Summer Music School and Sarasota Winter Residency, and the Crowden Music Center’s Chamber Music Workshop. In 2018 he participated in a cultural exchange and residency in São Paulo, Brazil, teaching masterclasses and mentoring students from diverse backgrounds of the GURI Youth Orchestra programs.

Kenneth is committed to using technology to bring greater access to high-level string teaching to a global audience, having served as content editor and pedagogical consultant for Itzhak Perlman’s “Masterclass” series on masterclass.com.

He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Itzhak Perlman, Li Lin, and Donald Weilerstein as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.

During the pandemic, Kenneth discovered his interest in pre-60s Romani jazz, becoming a member of the San Francisco-based musical collective The Hot Clams. He continues to perform with them to this day, most recently at the Cascais Jazz Festival in Portugal, and hopes to bring the sense of connection, joy, and spontaneity of live improvisation to his work as a classical performer and educator.

“Even among a high-class field Kenneth Renshaw was the stand-out…Marked by true chamber music making and a natural, honest sense of communication.”

Ariane Todes, The Strad Magazine

“Gorgeous, finely detailed…a marvel of emotional maturity and assurance.

San Francisco Classical Voice

“Kenneth brings an intense engagement and a very deep thoughtfulness to his playing.”

Donato Cabrera, Music Director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the California Symphony

Keisuke Nakagoshi began his piano studies at the age of ten.

Arriving in the United States from Japan at the age of eighteen, Nakagoshi soon earned his bachelor’s degree in composition and then his Master’s degree in Chamber Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  He studied composition with David Conte, piano and chamber music with Emanuel Ax, Gilbert Kalish, Menahem Pressler, and Paul Hersh. In his nearly twenty-year career, he has performed on numerous concert stages across the US, including the illustrious venues such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl.

Nakagoshi has been active, performing with companies such as the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Earplay, and the Ives Collective. He regularly appears as the concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Marin Symphony, the San Francisco Philharmonic, the Mendocino Festival Orchestra, and the Cambrian Symphony.

Notably, Nakagoshi made his solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony performing Ingvar Lidholm’s “Poesis” with Herbert Blomstedt conducting.

In 2009, Nakagoshi and Swiss-born pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann bonded over the original one piano four hands version of Stravinsky’s monumental “The Rite of Spring” and subsequently formed the piano duo ZOFO, one of only a handful of duos worldwide devoted exclusively to piano duets.  In 2013 ZOFO’s first CD “MIND MELD”, including their performance of  “The Rite of Spring” which has been described by San Francisco Classical Voice as “simply gorgeous” was nominated for the Grammy award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble. Nakagoshi is currently on the staff of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and teaches at San Francisco State University.  He also serves as pianist on the production teams of Opera Parallèle and West Edge Opera, and as a pianist for San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.