Classical Music News

Kansas City Symphony Appoints New Principal Viola

May 10, 2022

2 MIN READ

Ming-Yu Hsu is from New Taipei City, Taiwan, and first studied viola with Jui-Se Yang of the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University.

In 2014, she entered the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of Hsin-Yun Huang serving as the institution's Walter and Leonore Annenberg Fellow.

This coming September, she will lead the Kansas City Symphony's viola section.

"I am extremely honored and excited to be joining the Kansas City Symphony," Hsu told The Violin Channel. "What I love most about orchestral playing is the ability to create and share musical experiences with my colleagues. The Kansas City Symphony has already created such a welcoming atmosphere and I am looking for ward to many memorable years of music making."

Hsu's accolades include winning first prize in Taiwan’s National Students Music Competition, the Taipei City Students Music Competition, the Asia Pacific Cup, and the Taipei Culture Cup. She was also a semi-finalist in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and a participant in the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

She has performed in venues around the world, including Taipei’s Zhong-Shan Hall, the Gu-Ting School, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kulturpalast Dresden, Cadogan Hall, Mozarteum’s Grosser Saal, Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music. More recently, she performed at the Kimmel Center and at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown, PA.

Hsu has participated in masterclasses with Misha Amory, Choong-Jin Chang, Isabel Charisius, Chen-Yen Chen, Pamela Frank, Gérard Caussé, Veit Hertenstein, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Li Sheng, Antoine Tamestit, and Tabea Zimmermann.