Violinist Jenna Son, 16, is a junior at the Davis Senior High School and a Pre-College student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Nancy Zhou. Jenna started violin lessons at the age of six with Heather Powell and continued her studies with Dr. Christine Choi and Elbert Tsai respectively. Jenna is currently a violinist of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, DHS Symphony Orchestra, and Quartet Soleil at the Young Chamber Musicians. Jenna made her orchestral debut with the Solano Symphony and won DHS Concerto Competition. Jenna appeared as a soloist at the Jackson Hall of the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall with DHS Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Jenna soloed with the Auburn Symphony as the Grand Prize winner of their young artist competition. Additionally, Jenna won first place at the KAMSA, DVC-HNU, CalASTA Sacramento, and CAPMT Go for the Gold music competitions, and was awarded honorable mention at the Sejong Music Competition.
Besides violin, Jenna has studied piano with Akiko Gaffney and received the MTAC Certificate of Merit Advanced Level with State Honor and top prizes in the Classical Masters Music Competition, JPTAG Piano Competition, CAPMT Go for the Gold Music Competition, and CAPMT Honors Competition. Jenna performed unaccompanied works by Johann Sebastian Bach at the Junior Bach Festival in Berkeley on both violin and piano in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Jenna also loves to share her musical experiences with young students and patients in the local community through Lifting Spirits with Music, the DHS Strings Tutoring Program, the DHS Piano Tutoring Program, and the Back To Bach Project Davis, CA Region where she serves as Co-Regional Director.
In past summers, Jenna participated in the Heifetz Institute, Mellon Music Festival, and Online Solo Strings Intensive, where she played in a masterclass for Augustin Hadelich. In the summer of 2025, Jenna will be performing at the Edinburgh International Festival as part of Carnegie Hall’s NYO2.
Watch Jenna Son perform Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 I. Allegro moderato by Jean Sibelius on the violin for the 2025 Spring Music Competition as part of the Charleston International Music Competition.