Tianrui Hu was born in Hubei, China, in 1995. In 2014, with the highest audition score nationally, he was admitted into the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, where he studied with professor Xiong Cheng, and was principal violinist of the Wuhan Conservatory Orchestra. He transferred to the College of Charleston with a full scholarship in 2017, studying with violinist Leechin Siow, and Ben Weiss, Assistant Principal Violist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. He has also received instructions from Yuriy Bekker, Ettore Causa, Todd Philips, and Mark Kaplan. He obtained his Master’s Degree at the Mannes School of Music in 2021, studying with Milan Milisavljevic, principal violist of the Metropolitan Orchestra. While studying at Mannes, he has also received instructions from violinist Ming-Feng Hsin, cellist Jeffery Zeigler, and clarinetist David Krakauer.
Tianrui is currently pursuing simultaneously a Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance and an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance at the University of Missouri Kansas City, under the tutelage of professor Scott Lee, violist of the Miami Quartet, and professor Joseph Genualdi, former violinist of the Chicago Quartet.