Program

Shostakovich: Five Pieces
Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3
Dvořák: String Quintet No. 2

Artists

Kuan Cheng Lu (Violin): Violinist Kuan Cheng Lu joined the New York Philharmonic at the start of the 2004–05 season — the first Taiwanese classical musician to earn a seat in the Philharmonic in its 170-year history. Lu has received numerous awards and scholarships that include the top prize in the Taiwan National Violin Competition, first prize in the ASTA string competition, the Raphael Bronstein Award, and the Taiwan Chi-Mei Corporation’s Outstanding Young Artist award. He received his bachelor’s in music degree from Oberlin College, his master’s in music from the Manhattan School of Music, and his doctor of musical arts from the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). He is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West, now a partner in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, and has studied with former New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, Lisa Kim, Associate Principal, Second Violin Group, and Yoko Takebe. Other teachers have included Roland and Almita Vamos, Daniel Phillips, Julia Bushkova, as well as his father, Chung Chih Lu. Learn more about Kuan Cheng Lu

Audrey Wright (Violin): Audrey Wright is a multifaceted artist across solo, chamber music, and orchestral realms. She joined the New York Philharmonic in 2022, having served as associate concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She also serves as concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Wright has performed across the globe in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, and the Vatican, and has been a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Cape Symphony Orchestra. With a passion for innovative programming and juxtaposing a wide range of musical styles, her repertoire spans the early 17th century to the modern day, and her performing experience includes the full spectrum of these musical styles, from period performance practice to the premiering of new and personally commissioned works. Her debut album,  Things In Pairs,  with pianist Yundu Wang, was released on Navona Records in 2022. Learn more about Audrey Wright

I-Jung Huang (Violin): Taiwanese violinist I-Jung Huang joined the New York Philharmonic in 2022. Before that, she was appointed to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section in 2020. Huang is a top prizewinner of the 2017 Ima Hogg Concerto Competition and the 2016 Hudson Valley String Competition; a Laureate of the 2015 Michael Hill International Violin Competition; a top prizewinner of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra “The Young Talent” competition and the Academy of Taiwan Strings Competition in Taiwan; and was the youngest musician selected at the Young Artist Taiwan Bank in 2011. She has appeared as soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Taiwan Philharmonic, and Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Learn more about I-Jung Huang

Na Sun (Violin): Violinist Na Sun joined the New York Philharmonic in 2006. A  native of China, she began playing the violin at age seven, and at nine was accepted into the Central Conservatory  of Music in Beijing. After attending the conservatory’s  elementary, middle, and high schools, she received her bachelor  of arts degree there with the highest honor, studying with Yaoji  Lin. She was concertmaster of the China Youth Symphony  Orchestra, and was  soloist in Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Xiamen  Symphony Orchestra.  Sun, who has performed in numerous recital and chamber  music concerts since arriving in the United States in 2003, received her  artist diploma from Boston University in 2005, studying with  Roman Totenberg. She was the grand-prize winner of the Bach  Competition, attended Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood  Music Center Orchestra, led by James Levine.  A frequent soloist with major orchestras in China, Sun  recently performed with the China National Theater Orchestra  and with the Qingdao, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou symphony  orchestras, conducted by Yu Long and Tan Dun. Learn more about Na Sun

Cong Wu (Viola): Cong Wu joined the New York Philharmonic as Assistant Principal Viola in September 2018. He is the winner of the Third Prize and the Chamber Music Prize in the Fourteenth Primrose International Viola Competition, and the Special Prize in the Twelfth Tertis International Viola Competition. His performances throughout North America and Asia include solo appearances with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, New York Classical Players, and the Long Island Concert Orchestra. Learn more about Cong Wu

Tabitha Rhee (Viola): Tabitha Rhee joined the viola section of the New York Philharmonic in September 2023. She has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. She is the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and has appeared as soloist and served as principal viola with the Juilliard Orchestra. She has also appeared as soloist with the Wisconsin Philharmonic, Madison Symphony Orchestra, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Learn more about Tabitha Rhee

Alexei Yupanqui Gonzales (Cello): Alexei Yupanqui Gonzales was appointed to the cello section of the New York Philharmonic in November 2012. He has served as the principal cellist of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Boston Lyric Opera. He has also been a member of the Boston Ballet Orchestra and has performed with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, Emmanuel Music under the late Craig Smith, and the Bach Ensemble with harpsichordist John Gibbons. Learn more about Alexei Yupanqui Gonzales

John F. Lee (Cello): Cellist John F. Lee joined the New York Philharmonic in June 2024. A native of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Lee completed a bachelor’s degree in history of science and statistics at Harvard University and a master of music degree from New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser, part of the five-year dual-degree program. He earned a post-baccalaureate diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of Peter Wiley, Gary Hoffman, and NY Phil Principal Cello Carter Brey. Prior to joining the NY Phil, he was a member of the San Diego Symphony from 2022. Learn more about John F. Lee

Timothy Cobb (Bass): Bassist  Timothy Cobb  joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Bass in May 2014, after serving as principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and  principal bass of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra since 1989. He has appeared at numerous chamber music festivals worldwide, including the Marlboro Music festival, through which he has toured with the Musicians from Marlboro series. A faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival, he is helping to launch a new bass program for the Killington Music Festival in Killington, Vermont. Cobb also serves as principal bass for Valery Gergiev’s World Orchestra for Peace, an invited group of musicians from around the world who donate their time biannually and perform to promote international harmony. Cobb has been designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace from his affiliation with the World Orchestra. Learn more about Timothy Cobb

Blake Hinson (Bass): Assistant Principal Bass Blake Hinson joined the New York Philharmonic in September 2012. Previously he served as principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony for two seasons, played with the New World Symphony as a fellow, and performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra. A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Hinson was accepted at age 16 to The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Philadelphia Orchestra principal bass Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He spent three summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School on fellowship, where he played in the Aspen Chamber Symphony and Aspen Festival Orchestra and won the 2006 low strings competition. Hinson won third prize in the 2009 International Society of Bassists Double Bass Competition and made his solo debut at Boston’s Symphony Hall. Learn more about Blake Hinson

Alexander Kiladze (Piano): Alexander Kiladze  is an award-winning pianist who has performed in the United States, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Belgium at venues including New York’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall, Brussels’s Palaix des Beaux-Arts, Moscow International House of Music, and the Small Hall of Moscow Conservatory. He has appeared in concertos with The Orchestra Now, Lumacamerata, Kaufman Center Orchestra, and Bard College Orchestra, among others. At the age of five Kiladze was accepted to the Special Music School in New York — the only pre-conservatory music school for gifted children in the US — where he received many accolades, including participation in the  Moscow Virtuosi  festival of young performers. He then moved to Switzerland to study with Konstantin Lifschitz at the Hochschule Luzern für Musik. While in Switzerland he studied with Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica Fiesole, and finished his postgraduate studies with Virsaladze at the Moscow Conservatory. Alexander Kiladze currently serves on the faculties of the Special Music School, Lucy Moses School, and the Cremona Academy. Learn more about Alexander Kiladze