The 23rd Nevada Chamber Music Festival
December 28-31 2026
at UNR's Hall Recital Hall
All 2026 NCMF concerts will feature a pre-concert talk in the hall, one hour prior to concert time
Event Passes $310 includes reserved seating to all six concerts and an invitation to an open rehearsal reception
Single Concert Tickets $60, per concert
reserved seating at UNR's Hall Recital Hall
Meet the Musicians
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Described as a cellist whose “playing is highly impressive throughout" (The Strad), DMITRI ATAPINE has appeared at leading venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Zankel and Weill Halls at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, and the National Auditorium of Spain. He regularly preforms with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is a frequent guest at festivals including Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, La Musica Sarasota, Cactus Pear, Pacific Music Festival, Aldeburgh, and Aix-en-Provence.
Mr. Atapine's many awards include top prizes at the Carlos Prieto International Cello, and the Premio Vittorio Gui chamber competitions. His recent engagements included collaborations with such distinguished musicians as Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, David Finckel, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Wu Han, Bruno Giuranna, David Shifrin, the Emerson, St. Lawrence and Miró quartets. Mr. Atapine’s recordings, including a world-premiere of works by Lowell Liebermann, can be found on the Naxos, Albany, Urtext Digital, BlueGriffin and Bridge record labels.
Mr. Atapine holds several directorships, among them Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Apex Concerts, Young Performers at Music@Menlo and Ribadesella Festival. Cello professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, Mr. Atapine holds a doctorate from the Yale School of Music where he was a student of Aldo Parisot.
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Born in Florida to Lebanese-Japanese parents, Nadia Azzi began playing the piano at the age of five. She is a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist, bringing her versatile artistry to a wide range of musical partnerships.
Nadia is the recipient of top prizes in numerous national and international competitions. Most recently, she won the 2nd Prize and Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in Norway with her piano trio, Trio Tokava. Other notable awards include top prizes in the 2019-2020 Beverly Hills National Auditions, 2017, 2016, and 2015 National YoungArts Foundation, 2015 Ishikawa Music Academy, 2014 Nordmann Scholarship Competition—awarding a full-tuition merit scholarship to continue studies at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division—2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, 2013 Thousand Islands International Chopin Piano Competition, 2012 Crescendo International Music Competition, Walgreens National Concerto Competition, Tampa Bay Symphony Young Artist Competition, New Music National Young Artist Competition, Orfeo International Music Competition, and AADGT International Music Festival, among others.
As a pedagogue, Nadia is committed to the rigorous development of musicians across a broad range of levels, from beginners establishing a solid technical and musical foundation to advanced students engaged in high-level performance preparation. Under her guidance, students have earned top prizes at prestigious competitions, including the Junior Concerto Competition at the PianoTexas International Festival & Academy, a semifinalist placement at the Fou Ts’ong International Concerto Competition, and top prizes at the MTNA State Piano Competition (Massachusetts) and the Young Artist Competition at Westfield State University, among others.
Outside of music, Nadia is an avid foodie, enjoys creative mixology, and loves fashion. She is also a proud dog mom to Boba, her 4-pound teacup poodle.
Nadia graduated from the pre-college division of The Juilliard School studying under Yoheved Kaplinsky, and received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at the Colburn Conservatory of Music studying under Fabio Bidini.
From 1999 until its final season in 2013, Clive Greensmith was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, giving over one hundred performances each year in the most prestigious international venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, London’s South Bank, Paris Chatelet, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has collaborated with international artists such as Andras Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alicia de Larrocha, and Emanuel Ax.
Mr. Greensmith has given guest performances at prominent festivals worldwide. In North America, he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Cleveland Chamber Fest, and the Ravinia Festival. He is a regular guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and will undertake a national tour with Paul Huang, Wu Han, and Matthew Lipman in 2020. Internationally he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Austria, Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. As a soloist, Clive Greensmith has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and the RAI Orchestra of Rome among others.
During a career spanning over twenty-five years, Mr. Greensmith has built up a catalog of landmark recordings, most notably The Complete Beethoven String Quartets for Harmonia Mundi with the Tokyo String Quartet, Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets with the Tokyo String Quartet, Brahms Cello Sonatas with Boris Berman for Biddulph Recordings, and Clarinet Trios of Beethoven and Brahms with Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse for Harmonia Mundi. In June 2018 he performed the newly reconstructed Pál Hermann cello concerto (1925) with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor, Theodor Kuchar. Toccata Classics released a live recording of his world premiere performance of the Concerto with Theodore Kuchar and the Lviv International Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 2019.
Deeply committed to the mentoring and development of young musicians, Clive has enjoyed a long and distinguished teaching career. In addition to his fifteen-year residency with the Tokyo String Quartet at Yale University, Mr. Greensmith has served as a faculty member at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal Northern College of Music in England, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. In 2013, following the final concerts of the Tokyo String Quartet, Mr. Greensmith joined the faculty at the Colburn School where he is currently a professor of cello and coaches chamber music for the Conservatory of Music and the Music Academy. Students of Mr. Greensmith have gone on to secure major positions in orchestras throughout the world and have won a number of prestigious awards.
In July 2019, he succeeded Günther Pichler as director of string chamber music at the Accademia Chigiana International Festival and Summer Academy in Siena, Italy. Also in 2019, Greensmith became the Artistic Director of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival.
Mr. Greensmith is a founding member of the Montrose Trio with pianist Jon Kimura Parker, and violinist Martin Beaver.
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Hanako Greensmith
Hanako is a graduate of Pace University's Class of 2018 with a BFA in musical theatre. She has been a part of workshops, concerts, and off-broadway productions, but is best known for her role as Violet Mikami in NBC's Chicago Fire. This is her second year in a row performing at the NCMF - she is very honored to be sharing the stage with such talented musicians once more.
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Aiden Kane
American violist Aiden Kane has performed in North America, Europe, and Asia as a current member of the Viano Quartet, First Prize Laureates of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and recipients of the 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
After leaving violin for the dark side, Aiden first studied viola with Daniel Foster through the National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship Program. She subsequently earned a Bachelor’s and two Master’s degrees (in viola performance and chamber music studies, respectively) at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Paul Coletti. During her undergraduate years at Colburn, Aiden discovered her love for quartet life as the violist of the Calla Quartet, which received the Silver medal at the 2015 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and presented Colburn’s inaugural Musical Encounters outreach program. Since she joined the Viano Quartet, Viano has won international competitions, weathered a pandemic, moved from one coast to another, studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence program, and joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program— and Aiden loves quartet life even more for it all.
When she isn't playing the viola, Aiden enjoys hiking, composing, and keeping an assortment of remarkably self-reliant houseplants.
John Lenz
John Lenz, cellist and hornist, retired from the UNR music department in 2010 after 38 years of teaching. He received his MM from the New England Conservatory, studying cello with Jules Eskin and horn with Harry Shapiro, both members of the Boston symphony.
He serves as principal horn with both the Reno Phil and the Reno Chamber Orchestra where he has played since 1972. Lenz was a member of the Telluride Chamber players and the Argenta ensemble for over 30 years and still plays with the Great Basin Brass.
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Peter Lenz
A native of Reno, Nevada, Peter Lenz began his musical studies at the age of 6 with a course in piano performance and musical notation. The cello became Peter’s primary instrument at the age of 10. Peter studied with Geoff Rutkowski, Louis Richmond, Bill Konney, and his brother, John Lenz, through college and graduate school.
Peter began his professional music career at the age of 13, when he became a member of the cello section of the Nevada Opera Orchestra. He joined the Reno Chamber Orchestra in 1976, and became principal cellist in 1983. He also was awarded the principal cello position with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra in 1982. In addition, Peter has performed as principal cellist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and as a soloist with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic and other regional orchestras.
Hailing from an extensive family of musicians, Peter frequently performs as a chamber musician in public and private with family members and others. He has performed chamber music with violinists Bella Hristova, James Buswell, and Phillip Ruder, violists Molly Carr and Dustin Budish, cellist Wendy Warner, and pianist James Winn. In his lengthy orchestral career, Peter has shared the stage with Leonard Nimoy, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Neil Sedaka, Loretta Lynn, The Captain and Tennille, Dean Martin, Edgar Meyer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Luciano Pavarotti, and Itzhak Perlman.
Peter performs on a Simone Fernando Sacconi cello.
In addition to his pursuit of music, Peter holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mining Engineering from the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada – Reno, and is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Nevada. He is a senior research scientist with EP Minerals.
Ruth Lenz
Ruth Lenz is concertmaster of the Reno Chamber Orchestra and the Reno Philharmonic. She performs as recitalist, chamber musician, soloist and concertmaster in venues throughout the United States.
She has shared the stage with such notable performers as Itzhak Perlman, Edgar Meyer, Luciano Pavarotti and Natalie Cole. In addition to the Nevada Chamber Music Festival, Ruth has participated in the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, CO; Kammermusiktage (Germany); Mayshad Festival (Morocco); La Musica, FL; Sunriver, OR; Classical Tahoe, NV; Festival Napa, CA; and Spoleto Festival USA, SC.
Ruth began her violin studies with her mother at age 2, earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno studying with Phillip Ruder, and her Doctorate from the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where she studied with Sherban Lupu and Danwen Jiang.
In addition to performing, Dr. Lenz has a passion for teaching and maintains a large studio of violin and chamber music students. In her free time, she is an avid equestrian and outdoor enthusiast. Ruth Lenz plays a Simone Fernando Sacconi violin.
An avid chamber musician, Park has collaborated with such musicians as David Shifrin, Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Paul Neubauer and many others appearing frequently at Yellow Barn Festival (Vermont), Santander Music Festival (Spain), Great Mountains Festival (Korea), Music@Menlo Festival (California), Chamber Music Northwest (Oregon) and Nevada Chamber Music Festival. She is the founding member of Atapine-Park duo and Atria Ensemble, groups that respectively won the prizes at Premio Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition (Italy) and Plowman Chamber Music Competition (Missouri). Her duo recordings for cello and piano with cellist Dmitri Atapine were distributed by Naxos to a great critical acclaim. The duo's recent world-premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann's complete works for cello and piano was reviewed as "a valuable disc for the collector" by American Record Guide. Her solo CD "Klavier 1853" was released in 2017 under Blue Griffin label. An advocate for new music as a passionate musician who pursued career as a composer as well, Park enjoys working closely with contemporary composers. She has commissioned and premiered works by Lowell Liebermann, Patrick Castillo, Libby Larsen, Ezra Laderman and David Ludwig to name a few.
Park holds a Bachelor of Music degree at Korea National University with Professor Daejin Kim, Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music with Professor Peter Frankl, where she was a post-graduate artist associate following her graduation. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Peabody Conservatory with Professor Yong Hi Moon. Currently, Park is the Artistic Co-Director of Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Co-Director of Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival Smith Family Young Performers Program and Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she also is the Artistic Co-Director of the Apex Concerts.
Ray Ushikobo
Ray Ushikubo, praised for his “disciplined focus and clarity… and marvelous dynamic nuance” (Arts Knoxville), is a Japanese-American pianist and violinist who has performed as soloist with major orchestras across the United States. Recent highlights include performing selections from Piazzolla’s Four Seasons with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and I Got Rhythm Variations with the orchestras of Kansas City, Oregon, and Rochester; and Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen.
A Davidson Fellow Laureate and Young Steinway Artist, Ushikubo won first prize at the 2017 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the 2016 Aspen Piano Concerto Competition, and was a prizewinner at the 2023 Klein International String Competition. He made his orchestral debut at age ten with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside Teddy Abrams and the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Since then, he has performed with orchestras including those of Aspen, Buffalo, Florida, Fort Collins, Hilton Head, Modesto, New West, Pasadena, Pensacola, Portland, Reno, San Diego, Westchester, and Winston-Salem—often appearing on both piano and violin in the same concert. He has worked with conductors such as Rodolfo Barráez, Paolo Bortolameolli, JoAnn Falletta, Norman Huynh, Laura Jackson, Jeffrey Kahane, Wes Kenney, David Lockington, Michelle Merrill, Sameer Patel, Rafael Payare, John Morris Russell, Dayner Tafur-Diaz, Jeff Tyzik, William Waldrop, and Thomas Wilkins.
An avid chamber and collaborative musician, Ushikubo has performed with pianist Lang Lang at Segerstrom Concert Hall and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has appeared with Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Radio France, and at Musique & Vin au Clos Vougeot alongside cellist Gautier Capuçon. With the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he has been featured as a violin soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins with Martin Chalifour, Philippe Quint, and Cho-Liang Lin, and as a pianist in Bach’s Concerto for Two Keyboards with Jeffrey Kahane.
Ushikubo also explores music beyond the classical realm. He has performed with singer-songwriter Jackson Browne at a peace ceremony honoring Hiroshima victims, hosted by the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles. At Grand Performances, he played a dual piano and violin solo program with jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and electronic musician Daedalus, blending classical, jazz, and electronic genres. He also recorded an improvisation session with Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix for NPR’s From the Top.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Ushikubo double-majored and received his bachelor’s degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald, and violin with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Pamela Frank, and Aaron Rosand. Currently, Ushikubo double-majors at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he studies piano with Fabio Bidini and violin with Robert Lipsett. Ushikubo’s hobbies include golfing and watching movies.
Ushikubo performs on the 1741 “Playfair” Guarneri del Gesù, generously on loan from Colin Maki Inc.
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Viano Quartet
Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano Quartet has quickly soared to international acclaim as one of the most dynamic and in-demand string quartets of their generation. Winners of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2025, the ensemble has captivated audiences worldwide ever since they were awarded First Prize at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, with appearances at renowned venues such as Lincoln Center in New York, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall, and London’s Wigmore Hall. The Viano Quartet are Bowers Program Artists at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2024-2027.
Highlights of the Viano Quartet’s 2026/2027 season include debut performances at Chamber Music Houston, Austin Chamber Music Center, Chicago Chamber Music Society, Montana Chamber Music, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the Los Angeles Music Guild, the Royal Concertgebouw, Coast Recital Society, Caramoor Center for the Music and Arts, Schubert Club in St. Paul MN, and Chamber Music Charleston. The quartet also makes return appearances at Chamber Music Tulsa, Society of the Four Arts, Music at Evergreen in Baltimore, Northwestern’s Winter Chamber Music Festival, Cecilian Chamber Series, and a tour through Oregon with Chamber Music Northwest. The quartet looks forward to visiting residencies this season at University of California Santa Barbara, Washington University in Saint Louis, the University of Victoria, Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley, and Vancouver Academy of Music Chamberfest. This season also features exciting collaborations with pianist Sir Stephen Hough, pianist Illia Ovcharenko, tenor Nicholas Phan, bassist Nina Bernat, and guitarist Jason Vieaux.
Equally committed to both beloved masterworks and contemporary repertoire, the Viano Quartet actively collaborates with today’s leading composers, including Sir Stephen Hough, Gavin Bryars, Kevin Lau, Chris Rogerson, and Caroline Shaw. Most recently, they premiered String Quartet No. 2 “Dhara” by Indian American composer Reena Esmail in July of 2026.
The quartet's recent discography highlights the ensemble's range across both traditional and modern repertoire. Their first full-length album, Voyager, was released in summer 2025 on Apple Music's Platoon label. Inspired by humankind's enduring spirit of exploration that connects music and people across vast boundaries, the album features Beethoven's Op. 130 alongside Alistair Coleman's Moonshot. Gramophone praised the album as "a gripping voyage into the sublime." Their debut EP, Portraits, was released in 2023 as one of the first albums launched on the Curtis Studio label, featuring works by Schubert, Florence Price, Tchaikovsky, and Ginastera.
Passionate about sharing their love for chamber music with the next generation of musicians, the quartet has worked with some of the most talented young artists at the world’s leading universities and music institutions, including Northwestern University, University of Buffalo, Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute, the Colburn Academy, Duke University, and Indiana University South Bend. They have also collaborated with many of the world’s finest artists, including Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Fleur Barron, Mahan Esfahani, Marc-André Hamelin, James Ehnes, Bridget Kibbey, Paul Neubauer, David Shifrin, and Pinchas Zukerman.
The Viano Quartet was formed in Los Angeles at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in 2015. Each member of the quartet is grateful for the unwavering support from their mentors at the Curtis Institute and Colburn Conservatory, including members of the Dover, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets.
"Viano" is a portmanteau that symbolizes how the four individual instruments of a string quartet—each beginning with the letter "v"—work harmoniously as one, like a piano, creating a unified instrument called the "Viano."
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Lucy Wang
Canadian violinist Lucy Wang is a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a founding member of the Viano Quartet. Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the quartet rose to international acclaim as First Prize winners of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and are Bowers Artists at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2024–2027.
Lucy performs widely across North America, Europe, and Asia, and collaborates with leading artists such as pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Sir Stephen Hough, and Jon Kimura Parker, violinists James Ehnes and Pinchas Zukerman, guitarist Milos Karadaglic, soprano Fleur Barron, mandolinist Avi Avital, and singer-songwriter Vienna Teng. She has performed at renowned venues including London’s Southbank Centre, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Dublin's National Concert Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Toronto's Koerner Hall, and Hong Kong City Hall Theatre.
Committed to both core and contemporary repertoire, Lucy regularly collaborates with leading composers including Sir Stephen Hough, Kevin Lau, and Caroline Shaw, and will premiere a new work by Reena Esmail in 2026. She has mentored young artists at institutions such as Music@Menlo, the Colburn Academy, Stanford University, the University of Victoria, Northwestern University, and Duke University.
Her discography includes Voyager (Platoon Records, 2025) and the Portraits (Curtis Studio, 2023), featured on CBC, BBC, and Performance Today. She maintains a vibrant social media presence with 50 million views and 600,000 followers worldwide.
Lucy graduated from the Curtis Institute and the Colburn Conservatory, where she studied with Martin Beaver. She plays on the ca. 1700 Bell Giovanni Tononi violin, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
James Winn
James Winn, piano and composition professor at the University of Nevada, Reno since 1997, emeritus since 2024, made his professional debut with the Denver Symphony at the age of thirteen, and has been performing widely in North America, Europe, and Asia ever since. With his duo-piano partner, Cameron Grant, he was a recipient of the top prize given in the two-piano category of the 1980 Munich Competition (Musical America wrote about the team “Not since Josef and Rosina Lhevinne regaled us in the thirties have we heard such technical prowess paired with such genuine musical values”). Dr. Winn has been a solo pianist with the New York City Ballet, a member of the New York New Music Ensemble, of Hexagon (woodwind quintet plus piano), and the pianist and resident composer of the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, as well as a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum, the Group for Contemporary Music, Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival, La Musica International Chamber Music Festival, and Bargemusic. Well-known as a specialist in new music, he has been involved in numerous world premieres and premiere recordings by many renowned composers, among them 13 Pulitzer Prize winners. He was a member of Argenta, UNR’s resident piano trio, a founding member and regular participant in the Nevada Chamber Music Festival, and performs frequently in recital with internationally acclaimed New York based violinist Rolf Schulte. An active recording artist, Winn is featured in more than four dozen CDs as soloist, chamber musician, and composer. He has received numerous career recognitions including an Artist Fellowship from the Nevada State Council of the Arts and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
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Tate Zawadiuk
Canadian cellist Tate Zawadiuk is known for connecting with audiences through his dynamic and zestful musicianship. He’s a founding member of the Viano Quartet, recipients of the 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and currently in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program (2024-2027). The quartet won first prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and has performed on some of the world’s most iconic stages, including Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus, and Flagey.
As a soloist, Tate has performed with orchestras like the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. He’s also had the chance to collaborate with incredible musicians like Emanuel Ax, James Ehnes, Marc-André Hamelin, and Johannes Moser.
Whether playing for a crowd of thousands or a small group of chamber music fans, Tate’s focus is always on sharing a story through his music that hopefully resonates with each listener. Tate studied at the Curtis Institute of Music as part of the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence and earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he trained with Clive Greensmith and Ronald Leonard. In his spare time, Tate enjoys running, brewing specialty coffee, and is most likely somewhere trying on a new suit.
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Hao Zhou
"Personal, impassioned, courageous, and unostentatiously brilliant” (Musical America), American violinist Hao Zhou rose to international acclaim as both the Grand Laureate and Audience Favorite of the 2019 Concours Musical International de Montréal and a First Prize winner of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In 2025, he was a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Hao made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 12. He made solo appearances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Downey Symphony Orchestra, and Peninsula Symphony Orchestra alongside conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alexander Shelley, and Thierry Fischer. Hao is a founding member of the award-winning Viano Quartet, in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program from 2024-2027, and has performed worldwide alongside such internationally distinguished artists as Emanuel Ax, Roberto Diaz, James Ehnes, Noah Bendix-Balgley, and Marc André-Hamelin.
Hao is a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and has been invited to perform at the Kronberg Academy Festival. He was the first recipient of the Frances Rosen Violin Prize at the Colburn Conservatory, where he studied with Martin Beaver and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Hao plays on a 1910 Vincenzo Postiglione violin, on generous loan from Nathan Cole.