Violist HSIN-YUN HUANG, recognized as one of the leading violists of her generation, came to international prominence in 1993 when she was winner of the top prize of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award.  In 1988, Ms. Huang was the youngest-ever Gold Medalist of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition on the Isle of Man.  These and other honors have propelled a career as soloist and chamber musician on stages of major concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East.

Solo performances have included concerto appearances with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra in Munich, the Zagreb Soloists in Paris, the Tokyo Philharmonic in Tokyo, the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Russian State Philharmonic, and the Naumburg Orchestra in New York City’s Central Park.  Ms. Huang is in constant demand in her native Taiwan, appearing annually with the National Symphony of Taiwan, and has also been soloist with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra.  Ms. Huang has appeared in a nationally televised solo recital for President Chen Shui-Bian.

Hsin-Yun Huang has performed at prominent music festivals throughout the world.  In North America, these include the Spoleto Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Marlboro Music Festival, the El Paso Chamber Music Festival, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Appalachian Festival, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, the Newport Festival, and the Mount Desert Festival.  European festivals have included Prussia Cove (England), the St. Nazaire and Festival de Divonne (France), and the Moritzburg Festival (Germany).

Ms. Huang has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell, Joseph Suk, Menahem Pressler, Joseph Silverstein, Gary Hoffman, and Michael Tree.  Recent performances include collaborations with the Guarneri Quartet and a tour with the Orion String Quartet and the Bill T. Jones Dance Company under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  She has collaborated extensively with the Brentano String Quartet, including the recording and performance of the complete Mozart string quintets, with the first set of recitals presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall.  She will perform George Benjamin’s “Viola Viola” with violist Misha Amory for Carnegie Hall’s “Making Music” series at Zankel Hall in March 2007.

Ms. Huang has recently embarked on a series of major commissioning projects for solo viola and chamber ensemble.  In July 2006 she premiered a new work from Houston-based Taiwanese composer Shih-Hui Chen, Shu Shon Key (Remembrance) with the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble at An Appalachian Summer Festival in North Carolina.  The work was co-commissioned by the festival along with Chinese Performing Arts, which will present a performance of the work at Boston’s Jordan Hall in January 2007, and Da Camera of Houston, which will present a performance during the 2007-2008 season.  The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a version of the work for solo viola and orchestra; Ms. Huang will give the world premiere of that as part of a 2008-2009 season tour with the orchestra that will include a performance at Carnegie Hall.

A new work from Steven Mackey, also for solo viola and chamber ensemble, will receive its premiere at the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2007.  Subsequent performances will include presentations by the Fulcrum Point New Music Project in Chicago and at Princeton University.

Ms. Huang was a member of the Borromeo String Quartet from 1994-2000. With the Quartet, she performed in such prominent venues as New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and Japan’s Casals Hall.  In 1998 the Borromeo String Quartet was awarded the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, chosen by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be members of Chamber Music Society Two, and featured in a “Live from Lincoln Center” telecast.

She recently founded the Variation String Trio with violinist Jennifer Koh and cellist Wilhelmina Smith.

Hsin-Yun Huang came to England at the age of fourteen to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School with David Takeno.  She continued her studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia with Michael Tree, where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree, and at the Juilliard School with Samuel Rhodes, where she earned a Master of Music degree.  Currently residing in New York City, she is a dedicated teacher, serving on the faculties of The Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music.