Hailed as “The Polynesian Paganini” (KC Arts Beat) violinist Keith Stanfield is Concertmaster of The Kansas City Civic Orchestra, the Kinnor Philharmonic Orchestra, a member of The Opus 76 Quartet, an Associate of The Royal Academy of Music (London, UK) and an active concert violinist based in the US.

As a member of the Opus 76 Quartet, and one of a tiny handful of professional classical musicians from Western Samoa, violinist Keith Stanfield performs over 200 concerts a year. His discography and streaming portfolio includes Mozart’s 4th Violin Concerto, all eighteen Beethoven String Quartets, the Schubert Quintet, Mendelssohn’s op.44 no.1, the Brahms F minor Piano Quintet, and many more works for quartet. Of note, he recorded the “Six Quartets Dedicated to Haydn” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for NPR affiliate Kansas Public Radio in Fall of 2021.

In the 2021-22 season, he served as Guest Concertmaster with The Kansas City Ballet. The Quartet will make its debut at Carnegie Hall (New York, USA) in March 2023.

In early 2022, Keith became the first musician to win the Independent’s prestigious “Rising Stars of Kansas City” award. He gives 10 recitals and concerto performances a year at venues throughout the American Midwest. A recent performance of Paganini’s First Violin Concerto was reviewed in K.C. Arts Beat: “Stanfield then dashed off the violin entry with confidence, marked by a lusciously deep, resonant tone..[played] with considerable sensitivity by Stanfield, his tone and depth of feeling profoundly moved me.” A recent recital celebrating the life of W.A. Mozart was described as “banger after banger!” (FeverUp).

Keith is a former soccer player, who represented Western Samoa in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. He played five matches for the country (scoring two goals) before retiring to focus on the violin. He has coached soccer in the UK and the USA. He has also written articles for a number of publications including The Strad and the The Catholic Herald. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music as a visiting lecturer, and at The Youth Symphony of Kansas City, where he serves as the Director of Artistic Engagement, Principal of the YSKC Junior Conservatory and the Chamber Music Program.

He started playing the violin with Alison Apley aged 3 and is an alumni of the Suzuki Violin Method, Purcell School of Music (UK), the Royal Academy of Music (UK). He made his recital debut aged 6, and appeared as a guest soloist aged 10 on the BBC TV show: “Brian Connelly’s Crazy Christmas.” Winning a number of solo violin competitions and prizes, he has performed in many of the world’s finest concert venues, which include Wigmore Hall, The Royal Festival Hall and Royal Albert Hall (London), The Philharmonie (Berlin) and Teatro alla Scala (Milano).

Violin coaches included the late Erik Huston, Remus Azoitei and Karoly Schranz.