HSIN-YUN HUANG
Viola
Hsin-Yun Huang has established herself as one of the foremost violists of her generation, recognized for her artistry on international stages, her commitment to commissioning and recording new works, and her dedication to mentoring young musicians. She has appeared as soloist with leading ensembles including the Berlin Radio Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Bogotá Philharmonic, NCPA Orchestra in Beijing, Zagreb Soloists, International Contemporary Ensemble, London Sinfonia, Taiwan Philharmonic, Taipei City Symphony, and Brazil Youth Orchestra. She has performed under the batons of David Robertson, Osmo Vänskä, Xian Zhang, Max Valdés, and many others, and was the first violist to appear as a concerto soloist at Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts. Her festival appearances include Marlboro, Santa Fe, Rome, Spoleto USA, Moritzburg, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla, and the Seoul Spring Festival. She also tours extensively with the Brentano String Quartet, most notably in performances of Mozart’s complete string quintets at Carnegie Hall.
A passionate advocate for music education, Ms. Huang founded VivaViola!, a hybrid educational platform dedicated to expanding the viola repertoire and preserving musical traditions through dialogue with distinguished artists.
Recent highlights include performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Tippet Rise, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and on Marlboro tours. To reimagine the stage, she has created projects such as Strings of Soul, with pipa virtuoso Wu Man; FantaC, a collaboration with Ashkenazy Ballet inspired by the viola’s C string; and the forthcoming sisila ila ila: saying goodbye, a musical poem on the environment incorporating shadow puppetry and whale song, created with composer Shih-Hui Chen and director Doug Fitch, to premiere at Taiwan’s National Theater and Concert Hall.
Her recent commissions include James MacMillan’s Viola Quintet, premiered with the Brentano String Quartet at the Amsterdam Biennale; Eric Nathan’s Double Concerto No. 2 for Two Violas, with co-soloist Misha Amory and the New York Classical Players at Jordan Hall; as well as Steven Mackey’s Groundswell, Lei Liang’s Mother Song, and Poul Ruders’s Romances.
Her recordings include Viola Viola on Bridge Records, praised by Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. More recent releases are FantaC (2020), a collection of solo works based on the viola’s C string, and Viola Lens (2019), featuring Bach’s complete unaccompanied sonatas and partitas with Misha Amory. Her latest recording, VivaViola, presents new arrangements for viola and piano.
Born in Taiwan, Ms. Huang studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School. She has taught masterclasses at the Guildhall School in London, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the San Francisco Conservatory, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, and the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University. She has served on the juries of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Tokyo International Viola Competition, the Melbourne Chamber Music Competition, and the Hindemith Competition.
She first gained international recognition in 1988 as the youngest-ever gold medalist of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. In 1993, she won a top prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich and received the prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. From 1994 to 2000, she was a member of the Borromeo String Quartet.
Ms. Huang currently serves on the viola faculties of The Juilliard School and The Curtis Institute of Music. Her teachers include David Takeno, Peter Norris, Yehudi Menuhin, Michael Tree, and Samuel Rhodes. She lives in New York City with her husband, violist Misha Amory of the Brentano String Quartet, and their two children, Lucas and Leah. She performs on a 1735 Testore viola.
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