Colin Aponte is a 17-year-old senior at the Webb School of Knoxville and the Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra. He began playing violin at the age of 3 and studies with Dr. Miroslav Hristov at the University of Tennessee. Prior to relocating to Tennessee in 2021, he was the Concertmaster of the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Maine All-State High School Orchestra. He is the winner of the 2019 Bangor Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the recipient of the 2017 Young Stars of Maine Summer Strings Prize. In 2015, at age 10, Colin debuted with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at the Collins Center for the Arts. In 2017, he performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins with internationally-acclaimed violinist Midori Goto, as part of an educational music residency. In 2019, Colin was featured on NPR’s From the Top radio show which showcases young classical musicians from around the country. For the past three summers, he has performed with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra. Last year, Colin started an international goodwill chamber music channel on YouTube and Douyin (Chinese TikTok) called the “Bridge of Strings” with students from the Beijing Central Conservatory which aims to transcend boundaries between the United States and China and bridge the cultural, ethnic, and political divide through classical music. His videos have been featured on From the Top and Maine television. He currently teaches free violin lessons to students at Knoxville’s Joy of Music School.