Djumash Poulsen is a British violinist of Kyrgyz (Central Asian) descent. Djumash played with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble as a child, when they did their tour of the Silk Road trail. This event inspired him to pursue music as a life long passion.
Djumash is active as soloist, chamber recitalist and orchestral musician having performed in major venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Santander Philharmonic Hall (Spain), Royal Festival Hall, Kazakhstani Philharmonic Hall and the CSO Concert Hall (Ankara, Turkey), KKL Hall in Lucerne, Benedict Music Tent in Aspen (USA). He has also performed at the House of Lords at Westminster palace.
Djumash has attended numerous festivals such as Santander Encuentro Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, IMS Prussia Cove, Istanbul & Lucerne Festivals and most recently the Aspen Music Festival.
After being a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School he did his Bachelors at the Royal College of Music. This was followed by a Masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Rodney Friend on a scholarship.
He had the privilege of acting as assistant teacher for Naoko Tanaka at the Aspen Festival 2018, where she entrusted him with teaching responsibilities.
Djumash has attended masterclasses with Gyorgy Pauk, Zakhar Bron, Mihaela Martin, Rodney Friend, So Ock Kim, Maxim Rysanov, Thomas Riebl, Orion quartet, Tasmin Little, Philippe Graffin, Daniel Rowland, Heinrich Schiff, David Halen, Naoko Tanaka, Robert Lippsett and many other great musicians.
He regularly plays with the English Chamber Orchestra, recently acquired a trial with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He held a permanent seat in the Aspen Chamber Orchestra 2018, playing alongside Robert Chen (principal of Chicago Symphony) and with conductors such as Vassily Petrenko.
Djumash plays on an Ettorio Soffretti violin (c1890), kindly on loan from the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation.