Biography:

Brazilian born violinist Rômulo Sprung is an established teacher and performer in the Twin Cities area, where he moved in 2017 to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota, studying with famed violin pedagogue Sally O’Reilly.

An avid orchestral player, Rômulo was recently appointed as a member of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, and has performed regularly with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony orchestra, and other local groups. He was the concertmaster at the Journey North Opera Company for the production of “Lucretia,” by Benjamin Britten, which was named by the Star Tribune as one of the Best 10 Classical Concerts in Minnesota in 2019. Throughout the years, he had the opportunity to work with renowned musicians and conductors, including Kurt Mazur, Manfred Honeck, Shlomo Mintz, Sarah Chang, Garrick Ohlsson, and has also performed with non-classical musicians and groups such as Bernadette Peters, Michael Bolton, and the Celtic Woman.

Rômulo has a strong passion for teaching, aside his own private studio in the Twin Cities, he holds the position of violin/viola teacher in the pre-conservatory program, and the community school, at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Academy, in Faribault, MN. Between 2018-19, he was invited by Maestro Mark Russel Smith, to work as a coach and mentor to the violin section of the Symphony Orchestra at GTCYS (Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies).

Rômulo started violin lessons through the Suzuki Method at the age of nine. At thirteen, he won his first national competition in Brazil for young musicians, which sparked his desire to pursue a career as a professional violinist. After completing his undergraduate studies with violin pedagogue Dr. Fredi Gerling, Rômulo moved to the United States to pursue his Master’s Degree at Duquesne University as a student of Charles Stegeman, Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Opera. Rômulo also holds a Performance Diploma from Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he studied with Yuan-Qing Yu, Assistant Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also been fortunate to perform in master classes for Shlomo Mintz, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Andres Cardenés, Miriam Fried, and Shmuel Ashkenazi.

When Rômulo is not busy teaching or performing, he enjoys cooking, brewing espressos, exploring local breweries, and spending time with his wife, Morgan, and their two cats, Louie and Hubert.