Dan Zhu, a native of Beijing, made his first public appearance at the age of nine with the China Youth Chamber Orchestra. At age twelve he entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he studied with Xiao-zhi Huang. Four years later he was awarded the Alexis Gregory Scholarship to study with Lucie Robert at Mannes College of Music in New York. At eighteen, he made his Carnegie Hall debut, performing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto under David Gilbert. In 2003, he received the Premier Prix de Violon of the Fontainebleau American Conservatory. He is a laureate of several international competitions including Concours de Montréal, Sendai Competition in Japan and the China International Violin Competition.

Dan Zhu performs regularly in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared as soloist with Munich Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, National Symphony Orchestra of China, Hong Kong Philharmonic, l'Orchestre national d'Île de France, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and l'Orchestre royal de chambre de Wallonie. Recently he gave a series of New Year's concerts with Lang Lang and the China Philharmonic in Beijing. Additionally, he played with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra under Long Yu.

As a chamber musician, Dan Zhu has collaborated with such artists as Philippe Entremont, Richard Goode, Paul Meyer, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, performing at Hong Kong Chamber Music Festival, Marlboro Festival (USA), Prades-Casals Festival, Festival Pont-Levoy, Festival de Giverny and Menton Festival (France), Kuhmo Festival (Finland), Schleswig-Holstein with Christoph Eschenbach (Germany), Eilat Festival with Mischa Maisky (Israel) and Spoleto Festival (Italy). Recent recitals include appearances in London (British Museum), New York (Carnegie's Weill Hall), Mexico City (Festival de Mexico), Paris (Salle Gaveau), and Washington D.C. (National Gallery of Art).

He also works with Ivry Gitlis, Gerard Poulet and Aaron Rosand. His interest in other artistic fields led to a close association with the celebrated French architect group, Arte-Charpentier. Together they have made a series of creative collaborations between music and architecture in Paris and Shanghai.

Dan Zhu lives in Brooklyn, New York, and plays a 1763 Carlo Antonio Testore violin, on generous loan from the Alexis Gregory Foundation.

In 2007, the Swiss label Cascavelle released his recording of César Franck sonatas with pianist Philippe Entremont. The album was awarded four stars by Le Monde de La Musique.